The Right Kind of Wrong
by XxSteenuhxX
Summary: Tianna Bellfaire has gotten herself into a wee little bit of trouble with the famous Tony Stark. His irresistible charm and great looks may have gotten the best of her. But it seems they both get into trouble as they begin to realize the truth more and more. Can she stop herself from falling for the this playboy or will there be blood on the end of the knife?
1. Chapter 1

**The Right Kind Of Wrong**

It was my first time going to one of these kind of parties. Everyone had told me that it was a real gift to be invited to one. But the thing is, I wasn't invited. In fact, I was being dragged to the party by my best friend Jillian. According to what she's told me, you were always allowed to bring an extra friend when you're invited to these parties and yet, she wouldn't tell me whose party it was. Why'd she have to bring me?

I looked out the window. I was so curious as to whose party it was that we were heading to. To my surprise, I was kind of nervous. I didn't know whether my dress was too skimpy or just right, or if my hair was okay. I had no idea why I was so choked up about this party.

The limo suddenly stopped and I felt my stomach move to my throat. The door opened and the driver had helped Jillian out first. I slid over and stuck my foot out of the long vehicle as the driver had put out his hand. I shakily put mine in his and stepped out of the car completely. I stood next to Jillian who was scanning the people that were around.

"Jillian! Please tell me whose party this is." I demanded, as she slipped her arm in mine.

"You'll find out soon enough. Don't worry so much!"

We walked up to the front doors and were invited in by a butler. People around looked us up and down, making me feel insecure and uncomfortable. Jillian and I were lead to the backyard and left at the door. The music was blaring and people were dancing all around the pool.

Jillian walked ahead as I followed. We stopped by a group of people, whom Jillian seemed to know. She introduced me to them and I smiled in response. I looked around myself, obviously only knowing Jillian, so I had no clue why I bothered to look.

The group moved more into the party, me trailing behind. We stood in an almost circle-like crowd as people danced around us. Everyone looked as if they were having a blast. I stood there awkwardly, wishing I had declined her offer. I stepped back away from the crowd and accidentally knocked into someone. I quickly turned around, looking the person up from their shoes to their face.

"Sorry!" I apologized, blushing immediately after seeing who it was.

"No worries darling." he said. It was none other than Tony Stark, the famous playboy every woman wanted.

_I'm so clumsy! You stupid girl!_

"Are you sure? I mean it's totally my fault, I should have made sure no one was behind me." I replied.

"I'm completely sure dear. Say, I've never seen you at one of my parties before. Which is a wonder to me, a lady so striking as you should have been invited to each and every one of them." Tony said with his irresistible charm. I blushed more and looked at my feet. He lifted my chin to look up at him, expecting an answer.

"Well, my friend made me tag along..." I turned and pointed at Jillian.

"Ah yes, I had Pepper invite her." he stated. _Is that his girlfriend?_

"What's your name young lady?"

"Tianna."

"Beautiful name. I'd love to get to know you better. How about we go somewhere more quiet? I'm sure your friend will understand."

I looked over at Jillian who gave me a quick thumbs up before she turned back to her friends. I sighed in hopes she would have came to my rescue. Tony quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me through the crowd. Everyone took a quick look as to who Tony was rushing off with.

Tony slowed down as we got back inside the house and went up the huge staircase. I gawked at how beautiful his house truly was and all the space it occupied. Once at the top of the stairs, we headed down a long hallway, full of different paintings that looked obviously very expensive. We stopped at glass door that he had slid open. He looked at me and smiled. "After you."

I walked through the door and gasped at the beautiful view of the sunset. Tony closed the door behind him and stepped beside me. I looked at him and back at the sunset. "You're so lucky." I whispered while putting my purse down on the bench.

"To be standing here with a gorgeous woman, such as yourself? Yes, I am extremely lucky." I could sense the flirtatiousness in his voice. I knew that was probably how he talked to ever other girl who came along, but it made me blush nonetheless.

I shifted my weight nervously and ran my fingers along the balcony railing. I had a feeling he could tell I was nervous because I felt his hand touch my shoulder comfortably.

"Don't be so nervous. I'm not going to bite... Unless you want me to." he said calmly. I looked at him quizzically and he smirked. He truly was a gorgeous man. I could see why every woman I knew wanted to be his. I felt butterflies in my stomach start to flutter around as I wondered if maybe, I was beginning to feel the feelings they felt.

"I'm sorry, I can't help myself." I said simply, trying to hide the other feelings I was getting.

The glow of the sunset made him look all the more enchanting and good enough to eat. It was such a romantic setting, and it was stirring me inside out. I could sense he was still looking at me. I resisted the urge to look at him, until I found my face turning and betraying me. His brown eyes were so gorgeous and intense. He gave me a seductive smile, as if knowing my thoughts.

Tony leaned in close to me, I could smell his cologne that was irresistible to my nose. He turned me around to completely face him, moving closer. I felt my cheeks go hot as his hand slid behind my head and rested against my neck, pulling me in. I shut my eyes, suddenly feeling his soft, warm lips pressing onto mine. The kiss was sweet and gentle until his tongue poked out, slipping along my lips. I opened my eyes and he grinned, moving his arm around my waist.

"Stark..." I whispered against his lips.

_This is wrong Tianna. What are you doing?_

I moved the thoughts out of my mind and felt a sudden burst of boldness. I pressed my mouth closed, denying him entrance. Tony grunted in annoyance, reaching his hand down to my butt, grabbing it roughly. I couldn't help but gasp, my boldness disappearing as soon as his tongue darted into my mouth. I moaned quietly, pressing against his body while my hands rested on his chest.

My body went limp against him, the kiss weakening my knees. The kiss became more passionate and hot. My heart was racing as my mind tried to figure out why I had let him kiss me. His tongue left my mouth while he bit my bottom lip gently, pulling me as close as possible. The kiss was minty and tasted a bit like scotch. A voice came from the door.

" Mr. Stark." a woman said. I jumped slightly and quickly pulled away from him, looking at who it was. Tony turned and sighed.

"Yes, Pepper?" he asked.

"I know you dislike it when people disturb you during your 'parties' but there is a call waiting for you in your lab. It's important." Pepper said apologetically.

"I should go, I'm really sorry for wasting your time. Have a good night." I said as I quickly left the balcony.

"Tianna, wait! You forgot your purse!" he called after me. I ignored Tony and sprinted down the hallway, down the stairs and out the door.

"Pepper, please tell whoever called that I will call them back as soon as you find Jillian and ask her about Tianna. Jarvis!"

"Yes sir?"

"Find out where Tianna works and I will do the rest."

"Will do!"

Pepper stepped back inside and headed back to her office where she was to do as told. Tony looked at the purse that was left on the bench before looking outwards to the setting sun and sighed, running his fingers through his hair. He leaned on the railing and closed his eyes, his hands rubbing over his face. He then grabbed the small purse, walked back into the house and put on a smile, returning to his guests.

I slid into the limo as quickly as I could, telling the driver to take me home. I rested my head back and sighed, slowly drifting off to sleep. Half hour later I heard the driver calling me. I shot my eyes open and apologized for falling asleep. He opened the door for me and helped me out. I told him to wait while I give him a tip. I looked in my hand, then back in the limo. _Damn it! I left my purse at the party! Damn it, damn it, damn it!_

"I've seemed to have left my purse at the party. I'm sorry."

"It's alright Miss, I'm sure will have it brought to you." And with that, he walked around the car and got back into the drivers seat, then drove off.

"If I ever hear that name again..." I growled to myself and stormed up to my door. I realized my keys were in my purse and growled louder, punching my door. "OW!" I glared, hating myself and the world.

I climbed the fence to my backyard and ended up tearing some of my dress. I cursed and stomped to my back-door, opening it and sighing in relief. I walked in and closed the door, kicking my heels off and unzipped my torn dress. I let it fall to the floor and quietly went upstairs to my bedroom.

I plopped down on my bed with a puffy "thump" and screamed into it. I curled under my blanket and hugged my pillow against me. I looked up at my ceiling and thought. My fingers moved over my lips slowly, remembering what it was like to kiss Mr. Tony Stark. I remembered how he tasted, how passionate the kiss was, his way of being gentle. I smiled to myself as I drifted off to sleep once more.


	2. Chapter 2 Part 1

"Morning sunshine!" Jillian yelled. I shot up from my bed and gasped. I glared at her and rubbed the sleep from my tired eyes.

"...Morni-...wait.." I looked at the clock on my side table. "Jillian, it's not even morning. It's noon!"

"Well, it WAS better than saying 'Wakey wakey eggs and bakey!', so nyah!" she stuck her tongue out at me and scrunched her nose. I sighed and plopped back down onto my pillow. Jillian sat at the edge of my bed and nudged me. "So, are you going to tell me what happened with the sexy Tony Stark? Why'd you leave so early by the way?"

"I don't want to talk about it..." I turned over onto my side away from her. She tugged the blanket off of me, causing me to shiver and reach over for the blanket. I turned over again and sighed in defeat. "Fine. He took me to the balcony and we talked."

"That can't be the reason why you left early though." Jillian said, nudging for more details.

"Well... He kissed me." I blushed, remembering it all over again. Jillian squealed.

"OH MY GOD! Did he really? Ooh! What was it like? Is he a good kisser?" she urged.

"Um, well, he's a great kisser actually. But we were interrupted by who I'm guessing was his secretary? Her name was pepper. It was just so awkward, so I bolted. Accidentally left my purse there too..." I confessed.

"Pepper is a good friend of mine." The phone suddenly rang and Jillian got up. "I'll go get the phone while you get dressed."

She left the room quickly while I got out of bed and slumped over to the bathroom. I undressed myself and turned the shower on. I checked the temperature before stepping in. I sighed as the water cascading over my face. It felt good to wash off the memories from the night earlier.

"Hello?" Jillian said as she picked up the phone.

"Oh, hi Jillian. This is Pepper. I'm calling on behalf of Tony Stark this time I'm afraid."

"Alright. What can I do for ya?"

"I'd like to know a few things about your friend Tianna, if that's okay with you. Tony! Can you please be a bit more quiet, I'm trying to get the information for you!" Pepper said and sighed. "Sorry, he came in and started pestering me."

"Haha, no worries at all. What exactly would you like to know about her? And, may I ask what for?"

"Well, you see... I think Tony has come to a liking of your friend. She also left her purse here but we will have it brought to her. He wants to know some of her characteristics, her hobbies, what she likes, etc."

"Oh. A little crush?" Jillian said as I walked in with a towel wrapped around me. I mouthed to her, asking who it was. "Pepper, she's calling about Tony Stark." she mouthed back. I widened my eyes and quickly turned around, leaving the room while towel-drying my hair. "Hmm... Tianna is a very stubborn woman. There are few men she has allowed herself to fall for, and by few, I mean like 2 or 3. She's incredible though, funny and charming. She can be very shy or out in the open. Tianna is quite insecure though. She's been through a lot in her life and well, I guess it's taken a toll on her."

"Oh, sorry to hear that. Let me write that down... Okay, continue." Pepper said.

"She loves blue roses, fancy restaurants and likes to go shopping. She's quite proud of herself and can come off as being arrogant sometimes, but it's rare. She's not easily impressed, nor is she easily charmed. Her hobbies are cars and fashion. There's more but those are the most important things to know." Jillian continued.

"Great! That should be enough anyways. Thanks. Oh, we'll make a lunch date, yes?" Pepper asked.

"Of course." Jillian smiled. "Have a good day Pepper!"

"You too, thanks again!"

While they had been talking, I had gotten dressed and put my makeup on. I finished up my hair and stepped back into the kitchen where Jillian was pouring herself a drink. She gave me one of those 'I know something you don't know!' smiles. I rolled my eyes and didn't bother asking what the phone call was about. Instead I slipped on a pair of heels.

"Jill, are you going anywhere today?" I asked suddenly.

"Nope. Too lazy. Last night took it all out of me. Why?" she narrowed her eyes at me. I smiled and grabbed her keys that were on the island counter.

"I'm borrowing your car, since I don't have MY keys..." I walked out of the kitchen and headed to the front door.

"Sure, don't wait for my answer or anything. My answer is okay by the way!" she yelled after me.

I stepped outside and welcomed the warm sun. I unlocked Jillian's car and slipped inside before speeding off down the street and onto the highway. I blasted Jillian's CD. I was glad she had some good taste in music. I curved off the highway, taking the exit down-town. I waited at the light patiently before speeding off again once it had turned green. I stopped at my building and parked in the garage.

I took the first set of stairs into the lobby and smiled at the security guard who was sitting behind the info desk. He smiled back as I stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the 10th floor. I got off and walked down the hallway into the waiting room. "Good afternoon Miss." Talia said. I smiled at her and nodded.

"Sorry for coming in late Talia. Big night last night. I need that extra key for my office... Don't ask why." I said quickly. She raised her eyebrow at me and handed me the key.

"A man has been calling for you non-stop today." she stated. I shrugged and entered my office.

I put my stuff onto the huge cherry-wood designer desk before walking over to the floor-to-ceiling windows and opened the curtains. The whole office lit up and I smiled. I went through my files and placed them where they belonged. I never did like going out and then having to come in to work the next day. Though it was good that I didn't have any appointments until later. Talia came in and placed my coffee on my desk and sat at the edge.

"About that man, he seemed very persistent and eager to talk to you." she said. I nodded her off and got up, moving over to my filing cabinet and took out a stack of files. "He's been calling since 8 AM."

"Well, who was he?" I asked simply, walking back over to my desk.

"It was a Mr. Tony Stark." I dropped the stack of files onto the floor and stared at her in horror. I picked them up quickly and placed them neatly beside my coffee.

"Did he leave a message?"

"In fact, he left several. I answered his call two times. After that, I gave up!" Talia said as the phone began to ring. "That's probably him right now!" I sighed, sitting back at my desk comfortably. Talia walked back into the waiting room and answered the phone. "Hello?... Mr. Stark, I told you... Yes I know it's urgent, but she is not in yet!... No, coming here won't do you any good!... When she gets in, I will let her know right away... Goodbye now." She walked back into my office.

"Well, at least we know he's stubborn!" I said, taking a sip of my coffee.

"Remind you of someone?" Talia smirked.

"Yeah, yeah. When is Mrs. Winston coming in?"

"Around 3:00. Oh, Mr. Stark said he will be in tomorrow, whether you like it or not." and with that, she left my office.


	3. Chapter 2 Part 2

After an hour of sorting through files and adding the details needed, I decided I would look through the file I had on my computer for . I couldn't remember each and every single detail about my clients so I always kept the most important details on my computer and the less important ones in my filing cabinet. I scanned through her file while opening my folder of sketches.

"Miss, your next client is here to see you." Talia said after opening the door. I looked up at her and motioned for her to let Mrs. Winston in.

"Ah! Mrs. Winston." I said cheerfully as she walked in. "Please sit."

"Good afternoon Tianna." Mrs. Winston said.

"The last time we saw each other, you wanted me to do some sketches of what you wanted to have done. I finished them. Have a look." I handed over the sketches and watched Mrs. Winston look them over carefully. Suddenly, a huge smile spread across her face and her eyes lit up.

"I absolutely love it Tianna! This is definitely how I wanted my new living room to look. Oh, I cannot think of a better Interior Designer than you, no doubt about that. I knew you were right for the job!" she said. I smiled at her and took the sketches back.

"I'm over-joyed that you like them. I worked hard. Now I understand you're on a tight budget and-"

"Miss, HE is on line 4." Talia said quickly, closing the door just as fast behind her. I ignored what she said.

"And, if it's alright with you, I would like to help in order to make this renovation a success." I finished.

"Oh, alright. That is perfectly fine with me. When can you come in to see the space?" she asked, fiddling with her thumbs. I quickly searched through my schedule.

"Um...Looks like I can come in next week actually. Is that soon enough for you?"

"Yes, that is perfect. Thanks so much Tianna!" Mrs. Winston got up and shook my hand before walking to the door. "Oh, that man is still on hold!"

"No worries, it's not an important call. See you soon ma'am!" I said while she left.

I glared at the phone and hung up on Tony. I didn't want to speak to him, nor did I want to see him tomorrow. I wished that stupid kiss never happened. In fact, I wish I didn't even go to that stupid party! Then I wouldn't be in this giant pickle of a problem.

At 7:30, a knock came to my door and Talia stepped in. She placed my last coffee on my desk and my schedule for tomorrow. I smiled up at her in thanks. I asked her if she was leaving now, she just nodded. I knew she was tired. She was supposed to leave at 6, but she always liked to stay a bit longer to clean up whatever messes the clients left in the waiting room. We said our goodbyes and she left into the hall.

I sighed to myself and began working on the sketches I had to have done for another client. People think I have an easy job, but they don't realize how hard it actually is and how the late hours don't really help if you already have enough problems getting some sleep in your life. But I didn't mind, I loved my job.

I finally looked at the clock, realizing how fast time was passing by, because it was already 9. I looked out the windows onto the balcony and decided I should get some fresh air before packing my things and heading home. I turned off the lights, letting the moonlight be the only light in my office. I got up and opened the glass doors, then stepped out. A cool breeze whipped by. I rested against the railing and looked around at all the other huge buildings. I never really liked being downtown. It was too noisy. I looked up at the moon, thinking of how my day went.

I could hear a bit of thunder roar in the background, then a flash of lightning. It started to rain. I growled as it rained harder and stepped back inside. I walked over to my desk as another flash of lightning lit up the office. I screamed bloody murder at the person I saw, sitting at my desk. "HOLY JESUS MOTHER OF THINGS THAT GIVE ME HEART ATTACKS!"

"Nice to see you too, Tianna Bellfaire." Tony said sarcastically. He nodded towards the chair opposite of my desk and I sat in it quietly. "Why have you been avoiding my calls?"

"How did you get in here?" I asked. I always loved answering questions with another question.

"Answer my question first, then I will answer yours." he said smoothly.

"I haven't been avoiding them." I lied. "I've just been... side-tracked." Phew.

"I see... Well in any case, it's a good thing I lied when I said I would be in tomorrow. Because now we're even. You tell me a lie, and I'll tell you a lie. Now, as to how I got in here, the security guard at the info desk let me in."

"How? He knows he's not supposed to let anyone in after hours!"

"Oh, I paid him off. Apparently you don't pay him enough, considering how eager he was to get the money." Even in the dark, I could see the smirk on his face, knowing he had insulted me. I growled under my breath.

"I pay him enough, thank you very much. Fine, I have been avoiding your calls. Simply because that kiss was just a kiss. Nothing more, didn't see a reason to answer your calls."

"I didn't think the kiss was anything but a kiss." Tony leaned over the desk. "I only called to give you this." he handed over my purse. I'll admit it kind of hurt that the kiss meant nothing to him when it sort of meant something to me. What it meant, I have no clue. I took the purse from him.

"Thanks." I got up off the chair.

I grabbed my things and headed towards the door until I felt a hand grip my wrist and pull me back, turning me around and landing me right against something hard. It was Tony's chest. I looked up at him, slightly scared of what he might do. Thunder crackled, lightning struck. He leaned down and kissed me. I gasped and tried to pull away, but he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him. I blushed hardcore and melted into his arms.

I came back to reality and pushed him away roughly. I glared as hard as I could. He smirked. He moved past me and opened the door to the waiting room. Tony looked over his shoulder, the smirk still planted on his face.

"I lied when I said I didn't think the kiss was anything but. There was something when we kissed yesterday. Don't know what it was, but it was there. And it was there again when I kissed you just now, and I know you felt it too." Tony whispered. He sounded quite proud of himself. I was furious now.

"But you said-"

"Like I said, you tell me a lie, and I'll tell you a lie."

"How did you-"

"I will be back tomorrow, but to discuss business. Goodnight darling." Tony left the office.

I stood there, waiting to hear him leave the waiting room. Once he did, I stomped my foot in anger. _What an infuriating man! UGH!_I mumbled to myself during the whole ride down to the ground floor, and through the stairway to the garage. I got into the car and drove out of the garage, still steaming with anger. I turned left and drove off.

Tony smirked to himself as he watched me leave from the sidewalk in the shadows of the building. He moved away from the wall he was leaning on and began walking the other direction. _What an intriguing woman.  
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	4. Chapter 3

When I woke up this morning, the last thing I wanted to do was go to work. But being the workaholic I was, I couldn't help myself. Work wasn't boring, in fact, it was always exciting, especially with the new faces I see every day. I just wasn't looking forward to seeing Tony today and yet, just the thought of seeing him again made my heart skip a beat. What was happening to me?

I was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door, and then the sound of my door opening. I looked up to see who it was and sighed in relief when I realized it was Talia. I smiled up at her and nodded for her to come in.

"You look nervous Miss." Talia stated and sat in the chair opposite of my desk.

"Just a little. Stark showed up last night, not long after you left actually."

"What?! What happened?"

"We talked about him coming here today. Speaking of which, do you know when?"

"'Fraid not. I will keep an eye open." Talia stood up and walked over to the door.

"No worries. Talia..."

"Yes Miss?"

"You've worked for me for 3 yrs now. You know you don't have to call me Miss anymore, right? I mean, I don't mind if you call me Tianna." I smiled at her again. She smiled back and left, closing the door behind her.

A couple minutes later, the phone rang. I waited for Talia to answer it, then heard the intercom beep and her voice came through. "That was on the phone. He will be here in 5 minutes." The intercom beeped off.

My eyes widened and I sprung up from my chair quickly. I sprinted into the bathroom and checked to see if my hair was okay. I touched up my makeup and smirked at my reflection. I looked good. I sat back in my chair just as fast as I left it, and presented myself like any true professional would. At that moment, Stark walked in without knocking. I didn't dare look up at him.

"Hello gorgeous." Tony said and sat in the chair. I didn't acknowledge him and continued to look at the screen of my computer and scrolled through some files. A couple minutes passed until he spoke again. "You know, you could either say hi back or at least look at me, instead of pretending to be working on your computer when I know you're not doing anything but scrolling through random things."

"Hi..." I muttered, barely enough for him to hear me. I still refused to look at him.

"Well, that's a start." Tony leaned over my desk, his face close to mine. I didn't flinch. He rested his thumb under my chin and turned my face towards him. I glared at him as his face grew much closer. I knew what he was going to do and I quickly pulled back from him.

"I think you've kissed me enough as it is ." I said sternly. He smirked and sat back in his seat.

"Have it your way. Why the formalities? You can call me Tony sweetie." he winked at me.

" , you are here to discuss business, correct? Please get on with it."

"Ah yes, business. I've decided that I would like to have my kitchen, bedroom and livingroom remodeled. I've also come to a decission that YOU will be the one to do it." he smiled that sexy smile of his. I looked at him, thinking of a way to get out of this situation.

He got up and walked over to the windows. He placed his arms behind his back and looked at the view. I watched him intently, hoping he wouldn't do anything drastic, until an excuse popped into my head. "I'm booked." I blurted out.

"Make time."

"I can't. Especially so suddenly. You're just going to have to find someone else . I'm sorry."

"Alright then. I will just have to ask Curtis Delmoore, I heard he was really good."

I growled under my breath. Now he's blackmailing me with my most hated rival? How is he finding this stuff out? He was beginning to find out all the things that urked me. Who was giving him this information? Even if Curtis and I hate each other, I will NOT be blackmailed!

"Be my guest . Have a good day." I said. He turned around and smiled at me before he left my office. I buzzed the intercom. "Talia, be sure to make sure that Tony doesn't come here anymore."

"Yes Miss."

***************************

It's been a week since I last saw Tony, but it wasn't the last time that I've heard from him. Jill and I have lost count of how many times he has called my cell and house phone. We were on the verge of changing our numbers, but I had a feeling that even if we did, this snitch of his would tell him. Not to mention that every day there are flowers sent to my house and office. It's like we're running a freakin' garden!

All I know is, his threat of asking Curtis was empty. Considering he is still asking me to be his interior decorator. I could tell Jill was becoming annoyed with all the phone calls and bouquets. She insisted I just take the job so he would stop. I didn't want to work for him and I knew I was acting like a baby about it.

Wednesday morning, I decided to go to my favorite coffee shop. It was small and not usually busy, yet it was very popular. It was more of a "take it to go" kind of place. Though for its size, it was cute, comfortable and welcoming. The owners were very friendly and the waitress was close enough to me to be a best friend.

I sat in my usual spot by the window and drank my coffee as the people walked by. I had my laptop in front of me and put my coffee down. I began typing in my entrees to my clients that needed to be noted. I was so into my own world that the outside world became drowned out.

The bell on the door rang as it opened and closed. The person walked over to another table at the window. The chair screached as it was pushed against the floor. "I'll have an Iced Coffee with no foam and extra chocolate." The waitress walked off with the persons order.

The person got up, the chair screached again. They walked over to an occupied table and sat down in the free seat. "Hello." they said. The other person didn't answer, so they knocked on the back of the laptop. I jumped and looked up at who it was and jumped again. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"What do you want ?" I asked. As if I don't already know...

"You." I blushed. "To be my interior designer of course." he smirked. I mentally smacked myself for thinking otherwise.

"The answer is still no. Now if you'll excuse me," I turned off my laptop and closed it, taking a last sip of my coffee and put the laptop in my briefcase. "Angelynn.." I motioned for the waitress. She walked over and smiled down at . I paid for my coffee and stood up, pushed my chair in and walked away. Stark quickly got up and grabbed my arm before I got too far. I growled, all of this seemed to be a reaccuring thing with this man!

"I will pay you more than anyone ever has. You can bet your cute butt on it." I pulled my arm back and turned around, insulted at the fact that he thought he could buy me off.

"No amount of money will buy me off . I have class, most likely more than you do." I said simply with a smile. He faked a hurt look and moved closer, moving his face beside mine.

"I have a lot of class, but you won't give me the time of day to show you. Now who has the most class? The man who is asking for a chance, or the woman who won't let him have one?" he whispered in my ear. I sighed, he was right.

"Fine then, I will work for you. On one condition..." I said. He pulled back and looked at me.

"Name it." he smirked, quite proud of himself that he got me to finally agree.

"None of this physical stuff anymore. You will let me do my work in peace and you will not pull any tricks."

"Got it. Oh, by the way darling, you will start tomorrow morning and you will cancel your other clients except for ."

"How did you know about ?" I asked.

"I never reveal my sources. Do we have an agreement?"

"I suppose so."

"Great. See you then dear." He walked past me and exited the coffee shop. I watched him get into his Mercedes and drive off. Angelynn stood next to me and nudged my arm.

"Boyfriend?" she asked. I turned to her.

"Not even remotely close. Maybe in his fantasy dreams." I said. She smirked, shrugged and walked away. I raised an eyebrow and left the coffee shop myself.


	5. Chapter 4

There I stood, in the middle of Starks living-room. It was gorgeous the way it was, I had no idea why he wanted to change it! I looked around in awe at all the space and perfection of the whole room. The closer I looked at everything, the more I realized it did need a lot of work. It was kind of plain looking but still beautiful nonetheless.

"Hey." a voice came from behind me and I jumped, quickly turning around. It was Stark. He smiled at me and looked over my shoulder at his living space.

"Hi. I was just... you know, checking out the scene." I moved out of his way and stood beside him. I felt the hair on my arms stand on end and could also feel the heat radiating off his body. "May I ask why you want me to change it?"

"I want it to look lived in and comfortable. I can honestly say, at the moment, it looks like it's been abandoned." he answered. I chuckled and nodded in agreement. He pat my shoulder and left the room.

I sat on the quite uncomfortable sofa and shook my head. Men... They never really do care about comfortable furniture, do they? I opened my sketch-book and began to draw sketches of the room. First I would draw the room empty, and add in color and furniture later.

I heard the clacking of high-heels and looked up to see Pepper standing in front of me. She smiled and sat down next to me. She snatched the sketch-book out of my hands and grinned more. I watched as she studied the sketches carefully.

"Wow. You know, I think you're going to make this place look great. Can I help? I can order supplies and everything for you." Pepper said quickly. I blinked, trying to figure out what she just said. Then it hit me.

"Of course. I also need your opinion on some things. What colors does he like and what not?" I asked, secretly taking my sketch-book back.

"Red and gold mostly. He likes black and silver too. As for furniture, it depends on the room. He likes classy furniture and also modern furniture. He just can't make up his mind for the rooms and ends up putting both, which makes the room look... not so great, in my opinion anyway."

"Oh, I can deal with that, no problem." I wrote it down in my note pad and looked around the room again. There was an awkward silence. A couple minutes later, Pepper spoke again.

"Hey, uhm, there's a party tonight. Would you like to come? You can bring Jill with you of course. It's at the Stark tower, top floor."

"Well, I should really be working on my sketches and everything..."

"Aww, come on! It'll be fun, trust me. Better than the last one, mostly because it's going to be less people. Please!" she nudged me and smiled. I sighed.

"Fine, I'll come." Peppers smile grew bigger and she hugged me.

"Great! By the way, I hope we can be good friends!" Pepper got up and left the room.

************************************************************************

I got home around 4:30 and sat at the kitchen table, playing with my cellphone. Jill walked in and opened the fridge, searching for something to snack on. She glanced over at me and frowned. "You look troubled."

"I am. We've been invited to another Stark party. It's tonight at the Stark tower." Jill jumped for joy and danced around the table. I grabbed her quickly and sat her down. "Thanks a lot, now I'm dizzy!"

"Are we going? Or should I say, are YOU going?" she asked. I shrugged and began playing with my cellphone again.

"I told Pepper we would. So I guess we should start getting ready. We do need to be there at 8:30."

"Yay!" Jill got up and danced around the table again. I rolled my eyes and whacked her playfully.

At 5:00, I took a shower and straightened my hair. I added a few curls at the ends and pinned it up a bit at the back. I looked at the clock, 6:00PM. I sighed, I couldn't believe I agreed to go to another one of his parties. I sat in front of my make-up desk and stared into the mirror. Jill walked in all dressed up and ready to go. I looked at her. She looked awesome. I never did quite understand how she got ready so quickly all the time.

I began putting on my make-up carefully and skillfully. I had no idea why I was getting all pretty and wonderful. I had no one to impress. A little voice sounded in my head. "Tony Stark." I glared at my reflection and ignored the voice. I finished my make-up and stood up. I went over to my walk-in closet and sighed. I quickly whisked through all my clothes and growled. I had nothing to wear!

"JILL! I have nothing to wear!" I said, a bit too loudly.

"...Your closet is full of clothes and you're telling me you have nothing to wear? Don't make me come in there Tianna!" she said back, from the other end of the hall. I grinned, deciding to be a brat.

"Jilllllll! I'm serious! I have nothing to wear!" I could hear Jill stomping down the hallway and into my room. She walked over to the closet and pushed me out of the way.

"You're so dead." Jill grabbed the mini step-ladder and used it to reach a dress box that was at the top of the shelves. She opened it and took out the dress, placing it on the rack. She looked at me, then at the dress, and back at me again. "Wear this. You haven't worn it yet."

"But, but..."

"Wear it!"

"Fine, sheesh... Pushy." I unwrapped the dress and held it against my body. I walked out of the closet and placed it neatly on my bed. I turned and looked at Jill. "Do you mind?"

"OH, sorry!" she laughed and left my room, closing the door quietly.

I put the towel that was wrapped around me in the laundry basket and grabbed the dress. I stood in front of the full-length body mirror and put the dress on. I zipped it up in the back and smiled. Why haven't I worn this dress yet? I smoothed out the slight crinkles and twirled around. The dress moved with my body perfectly and swirled around just as good.

It was a deep red color with black on the bottom, made of silk. The dress was strapless, and hugged my curves gracefully. It had a band of diamonds around the chest area and had a slight sparkle to it. It was easy to move in and comfortable.

I went back into my closet and brought out a shoebox. I took out the pair of black 4inch heels with diamond straps. I slid them on and looked in the mirror. I grinned and twirled again. I put on a pair of diamond earrings and a diamond necklace. I thought I looked just as good as Jill did! I grabbed my clutch and car keys, then headed downstairs.

"Jill! You ready to go?" I looked in the living-room to find her watching TV.

"I'm ready. Are YOU finally ready to go?" she shut the TV off and walked over to me. I nodded.

"We'll take my car."

"Great, my car needs gas anyways. Remind me tomorrow!" I shook my head at her. She was always forgetting things.

We locked the house up and went into the garage where we got in my car and headed down the driveway. I looked at the clock on the stereo, 8:00PM. Jill followed my gaze and smiled. "Good timing for once Miss I Take Forever To Get Ready." We chuckled and pulled out, then headed to the party.

************************************************************************

"Tianna!" Pepper greeted me as she opened the door.

"I brought Jill with me."

"Even better!"

We walked into Tony's suite and gasped. It was almost the size of a 1 floor house. It was pretty full, but there was tons of space to walk around. Weirdly enough, his suite looked way better than his living-room did!

Jill nudged me in the rib and pointed over at Tony who was waving at us. I glared at him and looked at her. She had this weird look in her eyes when she saw him. I saw a smile creep up on her face and her eyes twinkled. I figured that's what happened to most of the women who saw him.

Tony walked over to us and smiled. "Good evening ladies." he said and kissed the top of Jills hand, then nodded at me. Jill tried hard to hide to love-sick school girl giggle she let out. I rolled my eyes and looked around for Pepper.

"It's so nice to meet you ." Jill said.

"The pleasure is all mine." he winked at her. I groaned in disgust as Jill giggled again. "Would you like to dance?"

"Of course!" Another giggle. Now I was seriously going to puke.

Tony took Jills hand and led her to where everyone else was dancing as I was just left standing there. Pfft! I slid away from the crowd and sat on a sofa that was seated by the window. Pepper found me and sat down. She handed me a drink and looked over at Tony and Jill, then at me.

"They look cute together." she said and sipped her martini. I mentally scoffed and chugged down my drink.

"I guess so. Thanks for the drink." I smiled at her. I glanced over at Jill and Tony dancing. They turned and Tony looked at me, he smirked. My stomach lurched and I suddenly felt sick. I could feel my body heat rising as the sick feeling got worse.

"Are you alright Tianna? You look a bit ill." Pepper put down her drink and watched me with a concerned look on her face. I grabbed her drink and chugged that one down too.

"I'm fine really. No worries. I just... I need another drink."

"Oh, okay. Well, I'll go get you another one."

"Thanks." Pepper walked off to the bar as I quickly walked to the bathroom.

Once there, I ran to one of the stalls and puked in the toilet. I sighed and slumped over to the sinks. I rinsed my mouth out with water and looked at my reflection. I looked horrible, and that feeling was still in my stomach. A mental image of Tony and Jill ran through my head and I glared, my hands gripping the edge of the sink. What was wrong with me? Was I feeling, actually sick? No... Anger? Kind of. Then I realized what I was truly feeling and experiencing. Jealousy. My eyes widened. Was I truly jealous of Jill and Tony dancing together?

No, I was jealous of Jill dancing with Tony. It took me a while to figure out the difference. Why was I jealous of that? I knew I didn't have feelings for Tony. Jill was my best friend, and she could dance with whoever she wanted. The question kept repeating in my head. Why was I so jealous? I washed my hands and went over to the drier. A vision of Tony smirking at me when he was dancing with Jill appeared. The answer popped into my head. I was jealous because Tony made me jealous on purpose. The smirk proved it!

I growled and walked out of the bathroom to see Pepper walking towards me with a drink in her hand. "There you are! I was looking for you."

"I was in the bathroom."

"I can see that now." she smiled and handed me the drink. I chugged it down once again and smiled back. Time for payback. We walked back into the suite together and stood against the wall.

"Hey Pepper, are there any men here who are single?" I asked. I watched as she named and pointed out the men who were single. I knew two wrongs didn't make a right, but I thought Tony deserved to have done to him what he did to me. I had a feeling he never had a girl make him jealous before anyways, so it technically wasn't THAT bad... Okay it was, but still! Cut me some slack here!

I chose a good looking guy, tall, mexican and the right type of guy to make Tony jealous. I told Pepper who I was going to dance with and sauntered over to him. I walked passed him, close enough that if he moved, he'd bump into me and he did. "Sorry!" he said with a slight mexican accent. Damn. It was kind of sexy! HE was kind of sexy. Now I wished I didn't have a little thing for Spanish.

"Oh, it was my fault. I apologize." I said smoothly. He smiled and held out his hand.

"Well, Princesa, since it was definitely my fault, would you like to dance senorita?" he asked. I smiled and placed my hand in his. He lead me to the dance area and placed his hands on my hips. I placed my hands on his shoulders as a nice Spanish song came on. What a coincidence huh?

While we were dancing, I inconspicuously moved us closer to where Tony and Jill were dancing. Soon enough, we were right next to them. I smiled up at the man and brushed closer against him. "You never did tell me your name." I whispered.

"Oh, my apologies. My name is Carlos, and yours is?"

"Tianna. Carlos is a very sexy name." I looked up at him and smirked.

"Are you flirting with me senorita?" he said and smirked back.

I shrugged. "Maybe."

"Well, if I do say so myself, YOU are very sexy Mami." Carlos dipped me, I looked ahead and saw Tony staring at me. I smiled at him as Carlos brought me back up and spun me around.

A pachanga song came on and the dance area cleared a few people. Tony and Jill continued to dance. I knew Jill couldn't dance to this kind of music and it was quite the sight to see her at least trying to. Tony was a great dancer though, I'll give him that. I brought my gaze back to Carlos and grinned. He looked down at me and spun me out, then brought me back in again.

"Can you do the Pachanga?" Carlos asked.

"Of course. Can you?"

"Si. Would you like to do the Pachanga with me?"

"I wouldn't like to, I'd love to." The smile on his face grew bigger and then I kind of felt bad about using him to get back at Tony.

We started to move quicker, spinning and getting closer together with every dance move. Other people began to spread apart, giving us more room. I was having such a great time and I could tell Carlos was too. We danced and danced, every move perfected. I quickly realized the moves we were doing was from the Dirty Dancing scene where Baby and Johnny were having their last dance. I always liked that song, Time Of My Life. It was a shame that wasn't the song that was playing.

I eventually forgot that I was dancing with Carlos to get back at Tony. Now I was dancing with Carlos, just to dance with him and I was having the time of my life! Tony and Jill had stopped dancing and moved out of the way with everyone else. The others were clapping with the music and rooting for Carlos and I. A lot of them were calling out "Dirty Dancing!" and Carlos would just smile.

The song slowly ended and so did our dance. I was breathless, and everything came back to me. I looked over at Tony and smirked. His facial expression changed from amused to well, not amused. I was satisfied and knew I kicked him where it hurt. He deserved it.

Carlos and I hung out for the rest of the party, Jill came over a few times to check up on us. We got each others phone numbers. The suite was now almost empty, a few people lingered. Tony was chatting with Pepper while Jill was standing there awkwardly. I said goodbye to Carlos and walked over to Jill.

"Time to head out girlie." I said and linked my arm in hers.

"Alright. I was getting kind of bored anyways."

"You guys are leaving?" Pepper asked.

"Yeah, I'm getting kind of tired and it's late. Plus I have to work tomorrow."

"Oh... Have a safe trip home." Pepper said.

"We will, Jill will be driving." I nudged Jill.

"Ah yes, it's bad to drink and drive. Tianna's obviously had a few drinks, considering she was dancing with someone she didn't even know." Tony said, a hint of jealousy in his voice. I glared at him. The air filled with tension.

"The party was fun. I had a great time. Tianna will see you two tomorrow and I'll see you whenever." Jill yanked my arm and pulled me towards the door. I looked back at Tony, only to see an apologetic look on his face. I frowned slightly as we left the suite...


	6. Chapter 5

I arrived at Starks house and rang the doorbell. I waited patiently, until the door opened quickly. I saw Pepper walk away and head down the long hallway. I raised my eyebrow and continued to stand where I was.

"Let yourself in Tianna.." I heard Pepper yell from the kitchen. I shrugged and stepped in, closing the door behind me.

I walked down the hallway, the sound of my heels bouncing off the high ceilings. Once in the kitchen, I sat on a bar-stool that was at the island along with other stools, in the middle of the room. I placed my briefcase on the counter and popped it open. Pepper handed me a cup of coffee and leaned against the island. I took out my daily planner and deleted the things I've already done.

"I'm assuming you got the sketches I sent in the mail." I said through the silence. Pepper scurried out of the kitchen and arrived back with some papers in her hand.

"Yes, I did. I don't understand why you didn't just deliver them yourself. Wouldn't that have been much easier?" Pepper said and spread them out over the island. I ignored her question and sipped my coffee quietly before I decided to speak.

"I came to a decision that the bedroom would be on the modern side and the living-room would be on the classy, old fashioned side. I know the perfect stores where I could get some of the furniture re-done and what not. The painters and movers are coming in tomorrow. Tony is going to have to sleep in a guest bedroom for a couple of days, if that's alright with him of course."

"I'm sure he won't mind. But I can't wait to see the over-all finish. Do you think you'll have time after you're done with all this to come take a look at my place?" Pepper asked. I chuckled and nodded in reply.

"Where is Tony, by the way?"

"Sleeping."

"Not anymore." A groggy voice said from the doorway. We both looked to see Tony standing there. "The sound of high-heels woke me up." Tony looked at me, then down at my feet. I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks as I blushed.

"Sorry..." I sputtered.

Pepper chuckled as Tony walked passed her to the coffee machine. He poured himself a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter. His eyes gazed at the pictures on the island. He pushed himself off and walked behind me, then leaned over me and grabbed the sketches. I could smell what was left of his cologne from the night before. Tony looked over the sketches and nodded in approval.

"Hmm, these are good. At least you understood what I meant by looking lived in. Is it just me, or is there a tint of Spanish in this sketch for the living-room?"

I felt my body tense up, anger beginning to fill in. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and snatched the sketches from his hand. I placed them back in my briefcase as the room filled with tension. I could tell Tony was smirking, just by the way Pepper cleared her throat. She took the empty coffee cup out of my hand and placed it in the dishwasher, along with her own.

"Uhm, Tianna, we should get going to those stores you were telling me about earlier." Pepper grabbed my arm and yanked me to the doorway, the same way Jill did the week before. I turned around to see Tony leaning against the island now.

"The movers and painters will be here tomorrow, so you'll have to sleep in a guest room. I'm sure this place is full of them." I said, barely wanting to even be in the same house as him, let alone the same room.

"That's fine with me. Oh, Pepper."Tony said, then sipped his coffee and watched us over the rim of his cup.

"Yes?" she answered. Tony placed his coffee on the island and smiled, crossing his arms.

"Why don't you and Tianna take the day off? You two have certainly earned it." I narrowed my eyes at him. I knew there was going to be a catch.

"Really? Cool! Come on Tianna, we can go to that new mall they opened. I've heard they got the best stores for shopping!" Pepper grinned at me.

"Yes, there's also a nice little Spanish cafe there as well. I'm sure Tianna would love to go." Tony smirked, knowing he urked me more than he should.

"Oh yes, I just love the taste of spanish coffee. It tastes so much better than the regular stuff." I said in reply, and this time it was me who yanked Peppers arm quickly before Tony could say anything back.

*******************************************************************

We arrived at the mall and couldn't help but squeal. This mall was huge! I could definitely see why everyone was talking about it. There was tons of natural light that made the mall look less dark than the other malls did. There were fountains in every center of the mall. The stores were jaw-dropping and we realized the whole mall had a theme to it. Beverly Hills.

Pepper and I headed to the store called Drab to Fab. We looked around the store and tried on several garments of clothing. We just couldn't decide on what we wanted because everything was amazing. We agreed that we would buy the whole mall if we could! We left that store and walked into another one.

"Hey, Tianna! Look at this dress." I turned and looked at the dress Pepper was holding.

"Oh wow. I think that would look perfect on you. Go try it on! Quick!" I rushed her into the changing room. I waited as she changed into it and gasped when she stepped out. "Jesus. Pepper, you look gorgeous!"

"You really think so?" Pepper twirled in the mirror and grinned.

"Of course." I turned my head and saw the most hideous dress I've ever seen. "...Oh my god!" I burst into laughter and took the dress off the rack. It was puke green with tons of ruffles everywhere and had a big orange bow tied at the back.

"Try that on! I dare you." Pepper was back in her normal clothes and was now pushing me into the dressing room. I put the dress on and slowly walked out. Pepper quickly covered her mouth, trying hard not to laugh. I looked in the mirror and covered my eyes.

"Who would even buy this? I mean really, it looks like a color-blind person designed it. No offense to the color-blind, but yeah!"

"I agree. Bridesmaidzilla walking." Pepper chortled. I stuck my tongue out at her and continued browsing while still wearing the ugly dress.

I found a sexy black dress that was a wee bit too short for my liking. It had some flare at the bottom with a slit on it. It looked a lot like a Salsa dress, the kind the real Salsa dancers would wear. It had thin spaghetti straps with a bit of sparkles on the fabric. Pepper snatched it out of my hand and smirked. I shook my head, knowing that she wanted me to try it on.

"If you don't try it on, I'll buy that ugly dress and make you wear it outside!"

"You wouldn't..."

"I would!"

"Fine." I took the dress back and changed into it. A couple minutes later I stepped out, a bit embarrassed that I had more skin showing than I was used to. I stood in front of the mirror, trying to pull the dress down a bit so it wouldn't show my thighs as much.

"Tianna, I think I just turned into a lesbian." Pepper said with a serious look on her face. I widened my eyes. "I'm just kidding, but that's how good you look in that dress!" I sighed in relief.

I put aside my insecurities and began to realize I did look good. This dress made me want to take dancing lessons! The thought of Carlos popped into my head and I grinned. I had Pepper take a picture of me in the dress on my phone and then texted the picture to Carlos captioned "Want to teach me how to Salsa?". He replied back with "Definitely."

*******************************************************************

We left the mall with 3 shopping bags in each hand. We were on our way back to my place where we decided we would have a sleep-over full of movies and popcorn. We had just pulled in to my garage and got our bags out of the trunk. I unlocked the side door to the house and motioned for Pepper to go ahead. She went in as I followed and set the bags on the floor. We walked into the living-room and sat on the couch, exhausted from our shopping day.

"Did we just become best friends?" Pepper asked and smiled.

"Indeed we did." I smiled back and popped in a movie.


	7. Chapter 6

"You can't run forever Tianna!" the man said as I ran out of the house and down the street, hoping to get away from him. But he appeared in front of me out of nowhere and grabbed my arms, pulling me close and shaking me.

"What do you want from me?" I yelled.

"You're heart. Although, it does already belong to me, doesn't it?" he replied, his face darkened, but I could make out the smile he had.

"My heart doesn't belong to anyone." I said cooly.

"Oh, come on Tianna. Don't play that card with me. You know you're in love with me. Admit it." The man moved his face closer, but it was still too dark to see all of his features.

"I...I..." I stuttered until we both heard this rediculous noise.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

"What is that...?" the man asked. It began to get louder.

_BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP._

I shot up and knocked my alarm clock off the side-table. I looked around and realized it was just a horrible dream I was having. I waited for my breathing to come back to normal before I got out of my bed and took a shower. After the shower was done, I did my usual routine and headed downstairs. Then I left for work.

******************************************************************************************************

I walked into the waiting room and took my coffee off the reception desk. I chugged it down quickly and sighed, slumping into one of the chairs. Talia looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "You look terrible."

I chuckled. "Thanks. I had a terrible sleep and when I have a terrible sleep, I end up looking terrible the next morning." I said, slowly getting up off the chair. I unlocked the door to my office and walked in.

Once at my desk, I turned on my computer and looked over the computer generated images I had of my sketches. The sketches were just outlines of what the over-all rooms were supposed to look like. The computer generated images were what exactly the rooms would look like at the end of the whole process. I printed them out and placed them in my briefcase. I buzzed the intercom.

"Talia, can you get me another coffee please." I waited for an answer, then tried again. "Talia." And again. "Talia, are you there?" Now I was getting frustrated.

I got up and walked out of my office, only to find Talia tied to her chair with her hands tied behind her. She had a large piece of duct tape over her mouth and her facial expression was of fear. She shook her head at me, motioning for me to go back in my office. I ran over to her and tried to untie her until I heard a voice speak.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." the person said with an english accent. I turned to see who it was.

There were 4 people standing in the waiting room, all dressed in black with masks on. 3 of them were pointing guns at me and the other, I figured was their leader. I slowly moved in front of Talia, blocking them from being able to shoot at her if they needed to. The leader snickered.

"You know, the bullets would just go through you and into her. There is no point in trying to play the hero Tianna." The leader was a woman, a bit taller than me. I was trying to figure out who it was, but I realized I didn't know any women who had english accents.

"What do you want with me?" I asked, watching the men with the guns.

"Oh nothing really drastic, just your life." she said and the 3 men chuckled. I rolled my eyes at her petty joke. First the terrible nightmare, and now this? Personally, I don't think this day could get any worse. One of the men walked over to Talia and pointed a gun to her head, she whimpered. "Now, walk over slowly. Don't try any tricks, otherwise your friend is going to enjoy a sleep she'll never wake up from."

I sighed deeply and began to walk towards them. Once I was close enough, the men grabbed me and tied my hands behind my back. They taped my mouth with duct tape and dragged me out of the waiting room. The woman walked ahead of us as the two men were behind me, pressing a gun to my back.

We entered the elevator and the woman took my keys out of my pocket. She put the elevator key in, and pressed the button for the top floor. The ride was silent, except for the beeps that sounded every time we passed a floor. The elevator door opened once we got to the 20th floor.

The woman got out first, and then the two men pushed me out after her. We took the flight of stairs and got to a steel door. The woman asked me which key it was to open the door. I showed her and then stepped back. She opened the door and got out on to the roof. The two men followed, dragging me along with them.

"Ah, the breeze is nice up here isn't it Tianna?" the woman asked. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that your mouth is taped. It was a rhetorical question anyways." She winked at me. I rolled my eyes again. This woman was pathetic!

The men positioned me at the middle of the roof and stepped back. They proceeded to point their guns at me while the woman stood inbetween them. I looked around, almost getting pushed around by the harsh winds from this height. I stood my ground and watched them carefully. The woman walked up to me and spoke.

"You know Tianna, you brought this all on yourself. This is what you get for meddling with my plans." She ripped the tape off my mouth and I whimpered.

"What plans?" I asked, stepping back. She followed and we continued moving until she grabbed me, digging her nails into my arms.

"The plans I had for Tony Stark."

"What do you mean?"

"You see, I was at that first party you went to with Jillian. I was supposed to kill him, but then you came allong and you two disappeared from everyones view. I couldn't follow you because there were too many eyes and cameras." she hissed.

"You couldn't kill anyone, you pathetic excuse for a woman!" I glared. The woman cackled and pushed me back some more, her nails still gripping my arms.

"Well lets say I could, and I killed Tony Stark. How would that make you feel?" she asked. I felt my stomach turn upside down and my cheeks grew hot. The thought of someone killing Tony had a weird tinge to it and I couldn't stand the thought. I glared harder at her when I realized I actually cared a bit about Tony Stark. She knew. "Tsk tsk, it seems you've grown some feelings for this man. Well, that's too bad."

"Go to hell..." I mumbled through clenched teeth.

"I vacation there all the time. It's quite nice."

"Who are you?!"

"No one of interest. Besides, it doesn't matter who I am. What matters is who you'll be when you hit the sidewalk from 20 stories high."

The woman suddenly let go of my arms and pushed me off the side of the roof. I watched her figure grow smaller as she looked over the edge. Then it hit me. I was now falling, who knows how fast from a building that was 20 stories high. I screamed as my legs kicked the air and I couldn't bare the thought of hitting the ground.

I screamed more until my throat started hurting. I fell faster and faster, the feel of gravity pulling on me. I closed my eyes, in hopes this was just another horrible bad dream. But it felt so real, the air, the surroundings. I held my eyes closed as tight as I could...

I wasn't falling anymore. I could still feel the wind around me and I felt as light as a feather. I opened my eyes. Instead of falling, I was now flying. I widened my eyes and began to freak out, kicking and screaming because I was still scared of whatever it was that was happening to me.

"Stop squirming! You'll make me drop you!" a voice said.

I stopped moving and slowly turned my head to the source of the voice. I was being carried by some, some metal robot thingy! I tried to get some words out but my throat wouldn't let me. I was frightened and hoped to God that this thing wouldn't drop me.

"Now I won't drop you. Hold on."

"With what?" I asked. Finally! My voice decides to work. I was still tied up and obviously this thing forgot.

"Oh yeah. Well, don't worry. I've got you anyways. You're safe Tianna."

"How do you know my name and what or who are you? I've had enough near-death experiences for one day, thank you very much!" I said quickly.

"They call me Iron Man, and I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't ask anymore questions." he said. The voice sounded familiar, I just couldn't figure out where I've heard this voice before. "Don't look down."

"Why not?" I asked, forgetting that he said not to ask any questions. I didn't get an answer, so I decided to look down. Below was the city. Then my fears kicked in. I was scared of heights. I squealed, squirming around again, almost falling out of Iron Mans' arms.

"I told you not to look down!" he said, slightly aggravated.

"I'm sorry! I couldn't help it. I mean when someone tells you not to do something, you get the urge to do it!" I was now hyperventilating and couldn't breathe. "And, and, and..."

I passed out.


	8. Chapter 7

I shot up suddenly with a large gasp as I opened my eyes. In front of me was a nice view. I realized I was sitting on a hill that over-looked the city. I turned my head to the left to see if there was anyone around. I then turned my head to the right and screamed, backing away quickly.

"Get away from me!" I yelled. The robot-thing turned towards me and extended its hand.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you, I promise." it said. I narrowed my eyes at it for a moment before taking its hand. The thing helped me up on my two feet.

"Thanks..." I said and brushed myself off.

"No prob. Are you alright? You had quite the scare, I'm sure."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Uhm..." I chuckled awkwardly and took a step back.

The thing sat down on the grass and pat the spot next to it. I hesitated a moment, then sat down next to it. I crossed my legs and pulled at the grass, while the thing had its legs stretched out and was leaning on its elbows. I looked at the robot and blushed, turning away quickly as soon as it turned its head towards me.

"Why did you jump off that building?" it asked.

"For your information, I didn't jump. I was pushed. I wish I had jumped though..." I replied and turned to look at the robot. It was quiet before it answered.

"I know you don't mean that."

"How would you know what I mean and what I don't mean? You don't even know me. What did you say your name was again?"

"Iron Man. I know enough to say that any beautiful woman should not wish to end her life. What is so terrible about your life?" he said.

"Well, for starters, there's this guy that is absolutely arrogant and thinks he's all that and a bag of Doritos. He practically blackmailed me into working for him. I've been single for 3 years and I can't stand it anymore. I was just pushed off a building by some woman, and I had to cancel all of my clients because of said man who I just want to smack! Now I'm sitting here with this weird robot type thing and spilling all my problems!"

"Ah, I see. This man you mentioned, tell me more about him."

"His name is Tony Stark, you may have heard about him. He's a famous playboy who doesn't give a flying hoot about the feelings he may be hurting. He keeps bringing up this guy who spoke Spanish. Tony's just infuriating. I mean he makes me so mad, I could just... just... UGH!" I said and threw my hands up in the air.

"Well Tianna, a man doesn't continually bring up another man for no reason. Have you thought of a reason why Tony has such an interest in this man?"

"I kind of used him to make Tony jealous... But only because he used my best friend to make me jealous!"

"Then, you've found your reason."

"Yeah, I suppose so. Wait a sec, how do you know my name?" I was sitting up straight now, deeply concerned about what Iron Man might know about me.

"Word gets around my dear. You're the famous Tianna Bellfaire, Interior Decorator of New York. You have your own business, and own your own building, the one which you were pushed off of." he said and stood up. I looked up at Iron Man as he towered over me. I began to feel a bit intimidated and stood up myself.

"Thanks, by the way." I said.

"For what?" Iron Man asked.

"For saving my life..." I shuffled my feet awkwardly, feeling embarrassed because I didn't thank him right away.

"Oh!" he chuckled. "No need to thank me darling. May I ask you something Tianna?"

"Sure."

"Are you not afraid of me?" I bit my lip before I answered.

"Not really. I mean, if you were going to hurt me or something, you'd have done it by now right?"

"True. I was just asking because most people are. Afraid of me that is." Iron Man turned to face me and shrugged. "It's an occupational hazard." I nodded in agreement as he moved to face the view again.

I moved closer to him, my arm almost touching his. I looked out towards the city, thoughts moving through my mind. Why wasn't there anyone else around and why did he save me? "Iron Man..." I said quietly.

"Yes love?"

"You know, I feel safe around you. Like nothing bad could happen."

"I'm pleased that you feel that way." he said in return. I smiled and leaned my head against his arm. The metal was cold and smooth. Iron Man looked to his side, and down at me. I looked up at him and smiled again. It was silent until I broke it.

"What are you exactly?" I asked.

"Not what, but who." he said and pulled away from me. Iron Man put his hand on my shoulder and turned me towards him. Our bodies were now facing each other.

"Well, who are you exactly then?"

"A man in a greatly designed titanium suit. That's all you need to know."

"Surely you can give me more details than that, ." I urged. He stepped back.

"I've already said too much, dearest."

"You've not really said anything honestly. Come on, just a few more details. I want to know who my hero is."

"I must be off. Be safe Tianna, and I would suggest you go to the police. They can help you deal with your killer problem." Iron Man moved to the edge of the hill.

"But, wait! Where are you going?!"

"You might want to step back." I stepped back and watched him carefully, trying to figure out why he couldn't say anything more.

"Iron Man, please!"

"I'm sorry, Tianna." he said and flew off.

I watched Iron Man fly away until I couldn't see him anymore. I sighed, turning around and walked down the hill. Walking on grass in heels wasn't the best experience I've had in my life, neither was being pushed off a building. Which reminded me of what Iron Man said.

I stopped by the nearest police station and told them everything. I gave them every detail I could remember and arranged to have a new house alarm installed the next day. Once that was done, they decided they couldn't do anything else and would send for a couple of officers to investigate the business building.

I took a cab home that the police station paid for and instantly felt relieved when I walked into the house. Jillian had asked where I was, I told her what happened. She said she felt scared for me and agreed to be here when the people would come to install the alarm. I was greatful for having a best friend such as her.

I grabbed the extra sketch-pad I had lying around and went upstairs into my room. I opened the window a bit and sat on my bed. I took the pencil off my side-table and began to draw a sketch of Iron Man. I smiled to myself as I remembered all the details and put them in. I colored it in with the pencil crayons that were on my desk and taped the finished drawing on my wall.

************************************************************

"Welcome back sir." Jarvis said as Tony walked in.

"Thanks Jarvis. Any mail?" The robots worked their magic, taking off the suit from Tony.

"No sir, went out to get an errand done. I'm assuming the rescue went well sir?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact it did. It was a close call though. I need to do some work on the suit. Schedule that in for me." Tony fixed himself a glass of scotch and sat in his favorite leather lazy-boy chair.

"Right away sir."

"Jarvis."

"Still here sir."

"Am I arrogant?"

" , you are who you are."

"So I am arrogant... Thought so." Tony said and sipped his drink.


	9. Chapter 8

For the past two days, I couldn't stop thinking about Iron Man. He was on my mind 24/7, and I couldn't help myself. What's worse is that Tony has been avoiding me and hasn't spoken to me at all. Every time I was around, he'd leave the room in a hurry. What was up with that?

The furniture Pepper ordered, and the furniture I had re-designed, both came in today and were set in each room I was to re-decorate. I stood in the middle of the living-room and looked at my picture that showed where the furniture was supposed to go.

"Pepper, can you come in here and help me move the furniture around please?" I asked. My voice echoed through the house until Pepper replied.

"Sure thing." She said and walked into the room.

"Great! Now, the sofa has to go in front of the television. But, it's got to be a few feet away." I stood at one end of the L shaped couch while Pepper stood at the other end.

"Oh, the couch looks much better. I like the old-fashioned wood edges you used and the legs too!" Pepper smiled and began to push the couch.

We moved the couch in front of the TV, about 8 feet away. Then, we put the antique glass coffee table in front of the leather sofa. Pepper and I moved all the furniture around, placing each item where it needed to be. I had left the room briefly and came back with a couple paintings and other smaller decorative items.

I put up the paintings and pictures in various spots on the walls, including a big mirror. Little known fact: mirrors make a room look bigger, while carpets make a room look smaller. I then decided to add a few plants in the corners of the room, a basket full of magazines beside the coffee table, knick-knacks here and there. I put a delicate vase on top of the fireplace mantle and a silk table cloth over the coffee table.

Pepper came into the room and gasped. "Oh wow!" She scurried over to the couch and sat in it. She snuggled against it and sighed. "It's more comfortable than I remember." I chuckled and sat next to her.

"Indeed it is. I think I've outdone myself." I nudged Pepper playfully. We both turned as soon as we heard footsteps, and realized Tony was standing in the doorway. As soon as he saw me on the couch, he quickly turned and walked away. I sighed deeply and shrugged. "Why does he keep avoiding me?"

"I don't know. He's been acting weird lately. He hasn't slept for two days, nor has he spoken to me. This is unusual, even for him considering he's a chatterbox." Pepper said.

"I thought, maybe it was something I said, or did." I stood up and looked at the over-all finish of the room, then at my watch. "1:00, well I still have time to do the bedroom."

"Can I help? This is so much fun! You know, I think I might take up that profession."

"I'll definitely put in a good word for you. Besides, I need help moving that bed. I mean, what man needs a king-sized bed?" I said as we went upstairs to the bedroom.

"He does." She answered.

"For what? No one needs a bed that big!" Pepper gave me a look. Then I thought for a moment. "Oh… Oooohhh! Ew! I don't want to think about him in that situation!" She laughed at my reaction and pushed me into the bedroom. "I don't even want to be in here now. Yuck!"

"Don't worry Tianna, everything gets washed." Pepper said and chuckled.

We moved the king-sized, black wood bed against the wall. It was a nice bed, very modernized. It was quite plain; the headboard was tall and rectangular. The footboard was short and rectangular. The siding, which covered the bottom mattress, was long, and had tiny little details etched into the wood.

Pepper and I put the two black metal side-tables on each side of the bed. The wardrobe was on the opposite wall, it was also metal and black, and it had diamond shaped silver crystals as knobs. The dresser matched the wardrobe, only it was lengthy and shorter. It also consisted of silver crystal shaped knobs and had a huge mirror. I took the same crystal knobs and added them to the doors of the walk-in closet.

Once Pepper had left to go get something to eat, I began to decorate the rest of the room. I put square, crystal lamps with silver lampshades that had the rims painted black, on the two side-tables. I hung up the huge painting of Tony's favourite car above the headboard. I placed a square-based house plant on the middle of the dresser. I added a standing lamp, the pole and base were black, and the lampshade was silver of course, next to a modern black leather chair that had silver leg posts. It was located in the corner of the room.

When I finished the last final touches, I looked at my watch and realized it was 5:30PM. That's when I went downstairs and into the kitchen to find Pepper arranging dinner. I sat at the island and waited patiently for her to finish before I spoke. "The bedroom is finished. I think I should head out now, it's getting late."

"Nonsense! It's only 5:30, you must stay for dinner. I insist, lots of food to go around." Pepper said and brought the food over to the island. She placed equal servings on 3 plates.

"No, I really should be going." I urged.

"I have to go get Mr. Stark. Would you bring these to the dining-room please?" she asked.

"Uh, sure, but after that, I must leave." I said and grabbed the plates. Pepper just nodded and left the kitchen.

I brought the two plates of food to the dining-room and placed them on two spots at the dining-table. I put a napkin at each plate, along with a fork and a knife. I was about to walk out of the dining-room when I almost bumped into Tony and Pepper. Tony looked at me awkwardly, then past my head to the table.

"Aw, you set the table, how sweet." Tony said. I rolled my eyes and moved past the both of them.

"I must be off now." I said quietly. "Have a good dinner you two."

"You're not going to stay for dinner, Tianna?" Pepper asked, a bit of hurt lingered in her voice.

"Yes, why don't you stay for dinner Tianna? After all, there is another plate in the kitchen with food on it. I can only imagine it was intended for you." Tony smiled. I felt my heart flutter slightly.

"As you wish…" I really didn't want to stay for dinner; I knew it was just going to be awkward. After two days of not speaking to each other, why did he suddenly decide to talk? I was going to go grab my plate when Tony stopped me.

"Let me, you go sit." He said and walked away.

I sighed and walked back to the table, Pepper followed. She sat down at the side of the table, while I sat on the other side, opposite of her. Tony came back with the plate and placed in front of me. I mumbled a "Thanks" as he went behind me and looked through his champagne rack. He picked one and put it in-between Pepper and I. Tony walked back into the kitchen, grabbed 3 champagne glasses and came back, putting each glass beside each plate. Then, he sat down at the end of the table.

"So, Pepper. How'd your day go?" Tony said, breaking the awkward silence as he poured each of us a glass of champagne.

"It was great. I helped Tianna with the furniture. She did a swell job." Pepper said and smiled at me.

"Is that so? Well, I'll definitely check them out once dinner is done. What are we having?"

"Pasta and garlic bread, I got it from that new Italian restaurant downtown."

"Ah, it looks good and smells great!" Tony and Pepper started eating their dinner while I sipped my champagne. It was going to be a very long dinner…

I poured myself another glass of champagne, and then started eating. I grabbed myself a piece of garlic bread and dipped it in the pasta sauce. The two of them chatted and ate, while I talked with Pepper here and there, ignoring Tony. I was right though, it was awkward.

"I hope you didn't over-work yourself Tianna." Tony said. I nodded and started playing with my food. "Well, you can have the day off tomorrow." I still didn't look at him.

I was on my 4th glass of champagne; I realized Pepper hadn't even touched her first one. We were done eating and Tony cleared the table, while I kept my glass of champagne. I chugged it down, poured myself another one. Once Tony finished, he brought three bowls of ice-cream to the table. We finished those and then headed into the living-room.

"You see Tony; I told you she did a great job!" Pepper said as she sat on the couch. Tony looked around at the room and nodded in approval.

"It definitely looks lived in. I like it." Tony said and sat next to Pepper. I decided to sit on the floor with a pillow, still holding my 5th glass of champagne. I had brought the bottle and placed it on the coffee table.

"You should see the bedroom. I haven't seen it yet. I'm assuming it looks awesome."

"Well, I'll certainly be happy to sleep in my own bedroom again. Guest bedrooms are so lonely." Tony leaned back against the couch. "This is more comfortable than I remember…"

"I said the same thing!" Pepper grinned.

"I had it re-stuffed." I said simply.

"You haven't spoken much tonight. Are you alright?" Pepper asked.

"I'm fine." I smiled at her and sipped my champagne. She yawned slightly and looked at the clock on the wall.

"Jesus, it's 8:00. I need to go. I have something important to attend to early in the morning. A press conference is being held." Pepper said and got up quickly. "I'll see you later on Mr. Stark." Tony just nodded and looked at me with a sheepish grin.

"But Pepper, you can't leave now! Not after you begged me to stay." I said, avoiding Tony's gaze.

"I'm sorry Tianna. I'll make it up to you, I promise. Have a good night you two!" Pepper winked at us and left the room. She grabbed her coat and purse, and then left the house. Tony cleared his throat.

"I really like what you did with this room." He said.

"Thanks." I poured myself another glass of champagne. "I like what I did too." Tony patted the spot next to him. The first thing I thought of was Iron Man and the things he said. I got up and sat next to him.

"No, thank you. You've lived up to your reputation." Tony said and I glared at him. "No, no. I mean your job reputation. You do great work."

"Oh, I thought you meant something else." I said and blushed. He laughed and shook his head.

"No, I would never mean THAT." There was an awkward silence. I yawned a couple times, feeling extremely tired. "I'm sorry…" he said suddenly.

"For what?"

"For the way I've been acting lately, and the way I've been treating you."

"It's alright Mr. Stark."

"Please, call me Tony."

"Alright, Tony, why have you been avoiding me?" I asked. He looked at the floor, then at me.

"I honestly don't know. I guess it's because I knew I was wrong in trying to make you jealous with Jillian. And, I'm sorry for that." Tony twiddled his thumbs.

"Oh… Well, to be honest, I wasn't much better by making you jealous with Carlos." I said and looked at the glass of champagne I held in my hand.

"Indeed." He said and laughed. There was a long silence; during that silence I had begun to lean against his shoulder, and drifted off to sleep. "Do you forgive me?" Tony said and when I didn't answer, he looked over to find a sleeping me. "Tianna…?"

Tony smiled and got up off the couch slowly. He picked me up bridal style and carried me up the stairs to his bedroom. Once there, Tony turned the ceiling light on. He moved the silk silver bed sheets and placed me on the bed gracefully, being careful not to wake me up. Tony pulled the sheets up and covered me with them. He kissed my forehead and walked to the door. He took one last look at me. "Goodnight love." He said before turning off the light and closing the door.


	10. Chapter 9

My eyes fluttered open as I began to wake up. I stretched out my legs and arms, then turned over and looked at the alarm clock on the side-table. 9:45AM. I closed my eyes again and tried to fall back asleep, until I realized my alarm clock didn't look like that, nor did my side-table. I took my arm out from under the blanket and felt around, silk. I looked at the color, silver.

"Good morning Sleeping Beauty." Someone said.

I sat up quickly and screamed when I saw Tony Stark searching through the dresser without a shirt on. I grabbed the blanket and covered my face as it turned red. I peeked slightly, lowering the blankets from my face. I looked Tony up and down, taking every detail that I could see. His hair was wet and he was wearing a pair of pants that made his butt look extremely good.

I looked through the mirror at his freshly shaven face, only to see him looking back at me through the mirror too. With Gods speed, I turned my gaze to myself, realizing that my hair was a complete mess. I blushed more and took my hair pins and elastic out, then placed them on the side-table. I let my hair fall before I ran my fingers through it, trying to smooth it out so it didn't look like such a big nest.

I looked in the mirror again to find Tony staring at me. He quickly looked away and grabbed a white tank top from the dresser. He turned around and smiled at me as I watched him put his shirt on. I realized there was something glowing from his chest, and continued to glow through his shirt once it was completely on. I stared at it. Tony looked down at his chest to see what I was looking at and shrugged.

"It stops the shrapnel from going to my heart." Tony said calmly. I raised my eyebrow at him while he sat at the edge of the bed. "Shrapnel: tiny pieces of metal that could kill me."

"Ah…" I nodded.

"You know, you look beautiful when you first wake up, all innocent like."

"Are you saying I'm not innocent?" I smirked at him.

"No, I'm sure you're as innocent as an angel."

"Good, did we do anything last night?"

"Nope, you fell asleep on the couch and I brought you in here. I slept in the guest room." Tony got off the bed and went over to the wardrobe. He took out a silk robe and placed it on the bed. "The bathroom is yours if you want it." He said and left the room, closing the door.

I grabbed the robe and headed into the bathroom. I turned the shower on and waited for it to reach the right temperature before I got in. I took a nice relaxing shower, and then got out. I looked on the counter to find a toothbrush still in its package. I figured he kept a lot of new toothbrushes around because of all the women he had. I brushed my teeth, dried my hair and put my undergarments on, then the robe. I folded my clothes and then placed them on the bed neatly. Once done, I headed downstairs into the kitchen.

"Would you like some coffee? I made it myself." Tony asked, leaning against the counter.

"You actually made your own coffee? Wow, that's a change." I teased and sat on a stool.

"I do know how to make my own coffee." He grinned and placed a cup of coffee in front of me, then sat on the stool opposite of me.

"Thanks." I sipped the coffee as my eyes wandered back to the glowing thing on Tony's chest. I frowned slightly and looked at Tony. "Does it hurt?"

"Does what hurt?"

"The thing…"

"Not really. I've got it under control most of the time." Tony looked down at his chest, then at me.

"How did it happen? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"You don't watch the news, do you Tianna?" he asked.

"Nah, news doesn't interest me, unless I want to know what the weather is or something."

"Well, long story short. I was going somewhere and we were attacked. There was an explosion, I passed out. When I woke up, I was being held captive. This nice gentleman put this in so I wouldn't die."

"God, I thought my situation was bad." I said and finished my coffee. Now it was Tony's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"What situation?"

"I was thrown off my building by some woman with an English accent. She had said I foiled her plans."

"What plans?"

"Her plans to kill you, she said she was supposed to kill you at that party. I can only imagine she's going to try again. I would suggest you have security around you at all times, and not have any more parties." I gave him a serious look.

"Alright, I'll take your word for it. It's going to be hard not to throw parties, but I can manage it. I'm curious though, how did you escape your death?"

"I didn't. Someone saved me, a man in a suit. His name is Iron Man. I'm so grateful. I treasure my life more than ever, thanks to him." I looked at my empty coffee cup and sighed. "I've been hoping I'd get to see him again."

"Maybe, one day you will. I've heard a lot about him." Tony said. I looked up at him and smiled.

"Thanks for letting me sleep here. I know it's unprofessional."

"No worries darling, I didn't mind at all. I do love what you did with the bedroom. It fits me perfectly." He said and sipped his coffee before mumbling. "Just like you do."

"Sorry? I didn't quite get what you said."

"Nothing, I was just thinking to myself." Tony smiled.

"Oh. Well, I'm going to go get dressed, and then I'll be heading out. You did say I have the day off today." I slid off the stool and went upstairs, then changed into my clothes. I came back downstairs, said my goodbye and left the house.

******************************************************************

"Where were you last night?" Jillian asked as I walked into the house.

"I was at Mr. Stark's house." I smiled at her and walked into the kitchen. I poured myself a glass of orange juice, and then came back out and slipped into the living-room.

"Oh? Did anything… Interesting happen?" she said and raised her eyebrows.

"Nothing you're insinuating." I sat down on the couch and turned on the TV.

"Damn, I've been waiting to hear some great stories. I met this great guy yesterday." Jillian sat down next to me.

"Cool."

"Don't you want to know more about him?"

"Sure."

"Well, he's good looking, he's hilarious. He has a great job and he thinks I'm beautiful!" I changed the channels, looking for something good to watch. Jillian began to get pissed off. "Hello? Are you even listening to me?!"

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Congratulations."

"Iron Man was seen saving this woman who decided it was a good day to end her life." The spokeswoman on the TV said.

"I didn't jump! I WAS PUSHED! Jeez, can't these people get the story right!" I got up and growled in anger, then stomped up the stairs and into my room.

"Wow, touchy today." Jillian whispered.

******************************************************************

Tony paced back and forth in his newly redecorated living-room. He was thinking of all the possibilities that could happen if he settled down for once, instead of having a different woman every night. He was also thinking about what I had said earlier. He did have a lot of enemies, but he couldn't understand why they wanted him dead. Then it hit him, he's handsome, rich, famous, extremely smart. Everyone else was just jealous.

"Mr. Stark?" Pepper asked, stopping in the doorway. "Oh, there you are!"

"Hi Pepper, how did the press conference go?"

"Great. They're wondering who the mystery woman is that you saved the other day."

"You didn't tell them did you? That would just ruin Tianna. She's had enough drama…"

"No. Tianna is one of my best friends, I could never do that to her. Tony, eventually they're going to figure out who it was. And, she is eventually going to figure out you're Iron Man."

"I know… I've just been waiting for the right moment to tell her. It hasn't come yet, but I will tell her." Tony sighed and laid down on the couch. Pepper sat on the edge of the coffee table.

"You know, if I didn't know you any better, I'd say you've begun to fall for her." She said quietly.

"Pfft, Tony Stark the famous playboy falling for some woman?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but she is not just some woman and you know it. Tianna puts you in your place more than I do. Plus, you always have this sparkle in your eye when she's around."

"Really? Tianna truly is an amazing woman. But, I can tell she has been horribly heart broken in the past. She hasn't spoken to me about it, I don't blame her, but it is easy to see." Tony sat up and sighed.

"Listen, every man has difficulty realizing when he's found the perfect woman for him, even when there are tons of signs. You smile to yourself all the time, I haven't seen you smile so much in ages. You haven't had any women in your house besides her and I. You always ask me when she'll be coming over. You've been like this since you first met Tianna." Pepper held onto Tony's hands and smiled at him.

"You're absolutely right Pepper. This is why I like having you as my assistant. You always notice things I don't." Tony kissed Pepper on the cheek and got up. He walked into the front hallway and grabbed his jacket, Pepper followed.

"Where are you going? Didn't she tell you to stay home?"

"Damn, at least she's looking out for me. Though, I could have sworn she hated my guts. Arrange for a meeting at the best restaurant in New York."

"Should I do that right now?"

"Yes please. Jarvis…"

"Yes sir?"

"We've got work to do. Get the suit ready."

"I'll do that right away sir."

Pepper started calling her sources. It took her about an hour on the phone, just to find the number to the restaurant, and then the number for the owners of the restaurant. During that, Tony headed into the basement and sat at his desk. Jarvis had the suit up and ready as Tony looked over his files, looking for what could be changed and/or upgraded.

"Going for a fly sir?" Jarvis said.

"No, it's time for upgrades. Take this new layout and see if it'll go well with the original plans." Tony looked up when he heard high heels coming down the stairs.

"Tony, I called. The meeting is Thursday at 11:00. They open at 11:30, so you can't be late and the meeting is going to have to be very quick." Pepper said, holding a file in her hand. "Shall I arrange for security?"

"Yes, I don't want to take any chances. If they're after me, they'll go for Tianna. Get security for her too. I don't want to lose her."

"Of course."


	11. Chapter 10

(Authors Note: Lots of talking in this chapter and if it's shitty, I apologize! _ Also, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update. But hopefully I can make up for it.)

It was Wednesday afternoon and I caught my mind wondering about Iron Man again. Who was he exactly? Why did he save me? Was he just deceiving me by saving me? "Pepper…"

"Yeah?"

"Why doesn't Iron Man have a sign like Batman does?" I asked. We were taking a nice relaxing walk down my street. I liked living almost in the middle of nowhere, where the closest neighbors weren't even that close. Pepper stopped walking and looked at me.

"Well, I suppose it's because Batman isn't real, or maybe it's because Iron Man doesn't want to be at the city's beck and call?" she said and started walking again. I quickly caught up to her.

"I guess. I wish I could get him off my mind. It's kind of hard though, 'cause he saved me and all."

The rest of the walk was silent and awkward. The only sounds were that of birds and other various nature creatures. I couldn't really hear any of that because my thoughts were so loud. I had noticed while in my thoughts, Pepper always got really weird and uncomfortable whenever I mentioned Iron Man. I was also thinking about what I was going to make for dinner. I have no idea why I was so concerned about that.

"Hey, do you think Tony would come if I invited him to dinner?" I asked. Pepper chuckled before she answered.

"Of course he would. What makes you think he wouldn't?"

"Well, I don't know. It's just… I slept in his bed. I feel kind of bad that he had to sleep in the guest room. So, I figured if I invited him to dinner, we'd be even!"

"Ah, well I'm sure he would be glad to go to dinner at your place. He likes a woman who can cook. Sadly, whenever he came to my house, I always had to order something. I'm not a very good cook." Pepper laughed and nudged me.

"He went to your place? Was he all arrogant like he usually is?" I asked.

"No. He was a total gentleman. But we were dating at the time so…" I raised my eyebrows before I spoke.

"Oooh! Why'd you guys break up? Tell me what happened."

"We broke up because it was just awkward after a while. So many rumors were going around about us and there wasn't much privacy. I also got a really bad reputation for dating my boss. It's why I'm still working for him. No one else will hire me because of that. Plus I don't mind working for him still. I like my job. He was a great boyfriend though, he changed me." We had stopped walking now and were just standing on the sidewalk.

"How'd he change you? I mean you're perfect, there's nothing that needed to be changed." I was now quite interested in hearing what went on. It's not often that you hear of someone who still works for a boss they used to date. Pepper smiled at me.

"I used to be very uptight. Didn't know what the word fun meant. He taught me how to have fun and how to be fun. I'm more relaxed and enjoy life a bit more. It was for the better. I now realize how miserable my life was before I had dated him. It's even better now that you're in it. It's been a while since I had a true best friend."

"Aw, thanks Pepper!" I grinned and hugged her, then looked at my watch. "We should head back. It's getting late and it's not fun to be out here when it's dark."

Pepper and I headed back to my house and hung out for about an hour before Pepper left. It was 7:00 and I had finished eating dinner. I washed all the dishes, and then watched TV for a while with Jillian. We had a couple drinks, chatted about her new love interest that, in my opinion, seemed like a complete douche, but to each their own. Though after those couple of drinks, I suddenly got dizzy and tired, so I decided to head to bed.

******************************************************************************

"Jarvis, how's the suit coming along?" Tony said, sipping his scotch.

"It's finished, sir."

"Good job bud. Hey, hey, hey!" he looked at the robot carrying a piece of the suit. "Be careful with that and you…" Tony pointed at the other robot that was to stand by in case of fire. "Don't extinguish me if I'm not on fire again. I mean it this time."

"Sir…" Jarvis said while the robots arranged the suit on Tony's body.

"In a minute…" Tony tried to stand still. One fatal move and well…

"Sir, there's a problem."

"I said in a minute!" There was a pause. "What do you mean problem?"

"There is a signal coming from 's house."

"I knew it'd be a good idea to have her alarm system connected to my computers. What kind of signal?" The robots finished putting the suit on.

"It's a fire signal, sir."

"Fire?" Tony's expression changed from content to extremely concerned.

"Yes sir. Her house has been engulfed in flames."

"Damn it! How long will it take for the fire department to get there?" Tony said as he turned the suit on.

"About an hour sir, in that time, the house will not be repairable, nor will there be any survivors, if there is anyone in the house."

"How long will it take for me to get there?" Tony programmed the suit quickly.

"5 to 10 minutes by suit, an hour by car." With speed, Tony flew out of the house and into the night sky. "Sir, you cannot use the suit without testing it first!" Jarvis said.

"Consider this a test drive."

Tony arrived at the blazing house and hovered over it. He could tell the fire started from the first floor and was quickly rising to the second floor. He looked over to the street and saw that a couple neighbors were standing by and watching with fear. One of them was on the phone. He assumed they were either talking with the police or fire department.

He flew down in front of the people and began questioning them as fast as he could. He learned that they had called the fire department about 10 minutes ago and they would be arriving in half an hour. Tony turned to the house and glared as someone yelled out to him. "We haven't seen anyone leave the house!"

Everyone gasped while Tony pulled the front door off and walked in through the flames. The flames engulfed the whole first floor and were extremely deadly. He searched the living-room, then the kitchen and dining-room. All the while calling out: "Tianna!"

"Sir, the flames have reached 75% of the upstairs. The suit will not be able to handle the temperature much longer." Jarvis said.

Tony ignored what Jarvis had said and continued to search through the house. He could barely see through all the smoke but noticed the stairs were slightly incapable of carrying weight due to the flames and quickly ran up the stairs. He checked Jillian's bedroom, the bathroom, the computer room. No one.

He walked down the hallway and turned around as soon he heard a crackle. He looked down at the floor, it was slowly falling apart. Tony was about to continue walking when a wooden beam fell to the floor, almost hitting him and caused a big hole. He growled under his breath and headed into another bedroom. The ceiling was on fire, and was beginning to slowly lead down the walls and would catch flame to anything that was against them.

Tony glanced over to the bed and saw a limp body under the blanket. He scurried over to the side of the bed, watching the body to see if it was moving. He noticed slight breathing and tried to shake the body in hopes the person would wake up.

"Sir, 45% capacity left of the fire shield." Jarvis stated.

Tony quickly broke the window with a chair that was right beside the bed. The people outside watched as a random chair came flying out of the window. He wrapped the blanket around the body and picked it up, then flew out of the window. He looked down the street and saw fire trucks/police cars coming up the hill.

Everyone clapped as Tony landed on the ground and walked over to the sidewalk. He placed the body gently on the cement and uncurled the blanket from the persons face. His eyes widened when he realized who it was…


	12. Chapter 11

"Tianna…" he whispered softly.

The fire trucks had parked against the sidewalk and in the driveway. The firefighters began to extinguish the flames while the police had put the "Do Not Cross" tape around the area. "Go Iron Man!" someone said and everyone else cheered. The officers tried to quiet the crowd down as it got bigger and full of news people.

Tony looked up as an officer walked over to him and examined what was going on. "There's no one else in the house." He said before the officer asked the question.

"Good. An ambulance should be arriving any minute. You're free to go. But, as a fellow woman, I know I'd want my rescuer to stay around." She said and smiled. "Does she have a name?"

"Yes, it's Tianna Bellfaire." Tony said and looked at the limp body while the officer wrote down the name and walked away.

"Sir, I've finished the diagnostics." Jarvis said.

"Thanks Jarvis, we'll see if the doctors get the same results." Tony knelt down and began to panic when he realized there wasn't any breathing. "Tianna! She's not breathing anymore!" Everyone turned to Tony and the police officer rushed back over.

Just in time, the ambulance arrived and the paramedics ran over with a stretcher. Tony watched as the body went from on the ground, to the stretcher and walked with the paramedics. They loaded the stretcher into the ambulance and placed an oxygen mask over the face.

"Surely it'd be faster if I took her to the hospital myself." Tony said.

"You've done enough. We can do much more for her right now. We will take her to the hospital and you can visit her there." The paramedic said and closed the back doors. Tony watched as the ambulance drove off down the hill, and then turned to the house that was still blazing.

"Iron Man!" a lady yelled and ran over to Tony, pushing a microphone in his face. A camera man stood behind her and the camera was pointed at Tony. "Can you explain to us what happened here?"

"No." he said simply. The woman had a confused look on her face.

"Okay… Then, can you explain why this woman was so important to save and why you saved her again?"

"If you want to know what happened, I suggest you wait for the police report." Tony took the microphone out of the woman's hand and placed it in the shirt pocket of the camera man. He nodded in approval before levitating off the ground and flew off.

******************************************************************************  
Tony arrived at his house and quickly had the suit taken off. He changed his clothes, and then called Pepper. He waited for her to answer and sighed in relief when she did. "Hello…?" Pepper said with a groggy voice.

"Pepper, there's an emergency. Tianna's in the hospital. I'm about to be on my way there. I need you to get ready to meet me there. Please make sure there will be no press at her room." He said quickly. Pepper didn't answer right away; she was so tired she barely understood anything he said.

"Tony, it's 12:30 AM… Wait, did you say Tianna's in the hospital?" Pepper said, sitting up straight in her bed.

"Yes, and I have no idea if she's going to make it or not. She wasn't breathing when I last saw her."

"What do you mean when you last saw her? Why wasn't she breathing? What is going on!"

"Pepper, I'll explain everything once you get to the hospital. I'm in a rush! Just hurry up and get some security with you, then head to the hospital. I will call you once I'm there." Tony said while grabbing his car keys and hung up. He got in his car and drove off as fast as he could to the hospital.

Once there, he went up to the reception desk and asked where Tianna Bellfaire was. Everyone in the waiting room stared, even the nurse at reception just stared at him. Tony gave her a "What the hell are you staring at?" look, and then turned to see everyone else staring. He sighed.

"Can't a guy come to the hospital in search of the woman he thinks he might have feelings for to see if she's alright even if he is a celebrity?" Everyone smiled and stopped staring. He turned back to the nurse.

"Tianna Bellfaire is the emergency room right now. But she will be in room 345 once done. You can wait here for the doctor." The nurse said and pointed to an empty seat.

"Can't I just wait in the room she's going to be in?" He asked.

"I'm sorry Mr. Stark. That's against regulations." She pointed to the seat again.

Everyone glared at her. They began to yell things like "He's here to see the woman he might be in love with!" and "Let him wait in the room!" He gave her one of his famous smiles. The nurse sighed and pointed to the hallway.

"Okay, just this once. Down the hall, take a left, head to the elevators and go to the 3rd floor. There will be a list of rooms on the wall and it will guide you from there."

"Thanks darling." Tony leaned over the counter and kissed her on the cheek before going down the hall.

He took a left, and then went into the elevators. He got off at the 3rd floor and scanned over the list. He headed down the right hallway and entered the room 345. Tony sat in the chair and got comfortable before he took out his cell and called Pepper.

"Tony! Jesus, I'm on my way with security. What room is she in?" Pepper said.

"345. I'm so nervous. What if she doesn't make it? I could never live with myself…"

"The great Tony Stark is nervous? I've never heard such a thing."

"You sound just like Tianna." Tony chuckled.

"Hang in there Tony. She'll be fine. I should be there soon."

******************************************************************************

There was a knock on the door and Tony turned to see who it was. He smiled when Pepper walked in with security behind her. "Took you long enough." He said.

"Well, this place is like a maze and there were tons of press at the front of the building, so we had to go through the back. I could only arrange for the hospital not to let any press on the 3rd floor. So there will be a security guard in every elevator and at the doors to the stairs at the end of the hallway." Pepper handed him a cup of coffee.

"Thanks, and good work."

"Stand guard at the door." She said to security. They nodded and stood outside the doorway. Pepper closed the door and sat in the other chair. "So, spill."

"Her house was on fire." Peppers eyes widened. "Tianna was in it. I brought her out and then the ambulance came and brought her here." Tony said and sighed, sipping his coffee.

"Oh my, I hope she's alright. Do you know when they'll bring her in?" As if psychic, a nurse walked in and smiled at the two of them.

"She's okay! The doctor will be bringing her in a couple of minutes." The nurse said and walked out. Pepper and Tony smiled at each other, and then waited patiently.

About 5 minutes later, the doctor pushed in a bed through the door. He placed it against the wall while the nurse handled the machinery. She attached everything as the doctor wrote down the information from the machines. "Ms. Canaveral, I'll finish up here. You're free to go." The doctor said. The nurse nodded and left.

Pepper got up and hovered over the bed, looking at all the equipment. The doctor turned to Tony and smiled. "I'm Dr. Margrave."

"Tony Stark and this is Pepper Potts."

"Ms. Bellfaire is a lucky one. We almost lost her. She will be fine, though I'd like to keep her for a day or two, just to keep an eye on her. The smoke ruptured her lungs a bit, but that mask will get whatever smoke is left, while giving her fresh oxygen as well. Hmm, what else… Oh yes, she won't wake up for a while, we have her sedated. It is 3:00 now, but if she does wake up, be sure to let us know right away. I will have a nurse check in every hour. We are still doing some tests; blood tests and what not. We will let you know the results later on." Mr. Margrave said. Tony and Pepper sighed in relief and thanked the doctor before he left.

"I'm so glad she's okay." Pepper said while fixing the blanket on the bed, then sat down on the chair again.

The room was then quiet for a few hours; with just the sound of the heart monitor beeping, the I.V dripping and Pepper's occasional snoring since she fell asleep about an hour after the doctor had left. Ms. Canaveral walked in and Tony watched as she changed the I.V, checked for blood pressure, and wrote down the information. Once she closed the door and left, Tony got up and stood over the railing to the bed. He smiled in hopes the waking up would happen soon, but knew it wouldn't. It didn't stop him from smiling.

"I didn't know what it was like to realize I've fallen in love with someone and then suddenly come to the conclusion that I'm about to lose that person just as quickly, until I met you. You had me scared to death! But that's okay, the only things that matter right now is the fact that you're okay and the fact that I'm going to make you mine, no matter what it takes… I know you can't hear me or anything, but I just wanted you to know that." Tony said.

He walked around the bed and grabbed the extra blanket, then placed it over Pepper. He sat back down in his chair and yawned. He looked around the room, tons of thoughts going through his head, until he fell asleep.


	13. Chapter 12

_I opened my eyes slowly after sleeping for what felt like forever. I looked up at the ceiling and noticed there was a ceiling fan. I don't remember having a ceiling fan in my room, very odd. Maybe I just don't remember it because I don't look at my ceiling very often. I also noticed my room was smaller than usual and very plain. It smelled like a hospital room and looked like one. I looked around the room some more, no one in it but me. I looked to my right and saw regular hospital machines; heart monitor, etc. It was unusually quiet and I know hospitals aren't the quietest of sorts._

I got out of the bed and scurried over to the door. I opened it slowly and peeked out, only to get pushed back in by a woman with a blackened face. I glared at her and tried to speak, but no words came out. She smiled at me as she took a knife out of her pocket. I backed away until she grabbed me and pushed the knife into my stomach. I screamed in pain but heard no sound….

I gasped loudly and opened my eyes, sitting up quickly in my bed. I breathed heavily as I looked at my feet that were covered in an ugly blue blanket. I wiggled my toes, and then looked around my room. It was really tiny and boring looking; ceiling fan, plain white walls with a window that had ugly dark blue curtains, a TV on the other side of the room that was on top of a small dresser. I felt my breathing quicken as I remembered that nightmare I just had and how the room resembled the same exact room I was in. I heard a strange beeping noise grow faster and louder while I realized what was going to happen to me.

Someone suddenly grabbed my arms and began to shake me roughly. I was about to scream for my life when I looked over to see who it was. I widened my eyes. Tony Stark? Was this another nightmare or was this reality? I was so confused that I just fell back on my pillow and stared into Tony's eyes. He had a concerned expression on his face until he looked up. I followed his gaze and saw Pepper standing on the other side of my bed. She rubbed her eyes, as if just waking up. I heard a door open and quickly turned to the door. I watched as a doctor walked over to me and looked at the machines to my right.

"Ah, great, she's awake!" the doctor said and smiled. I raised my eyebrow at him and looked at Tony for an answer. I didn't get one. The doctor wrote on his clipboard and looked at me. "I heard the monitor and came right in. She's alright though, just a slight panic attack. It's a natural reaction to things like this. Shall I tell her what's going on or will you Mr. Stark?"

"I'll do it; I think she'd be better off hearing it from me and Ms. Potts." Tony said and looked at me. I looked at him again, I was still confused and didn't like it one bit.

"Alright then, I'll leave you guys alone. I'm waiting on the test results, but I will come back when I get them." He smiled at me and left the room. I glanced over at Pepper, then at Tony again and waited patiently. Tony sighed, leaning over the railing to the bed.

"Do you want the bad news or the good news first?" he asked. I shrugged and went to take the mask off my face, but Tony stopped me and held it to my mouth and nose. I glared at him and crossed my arms. I saw a small smile creep up, and when it did, Tony quickly got rid of it. "I'll give the bad news, Pepper can give the good news. Good news is first."

Pepper sighed and smiled. "The good news is: you're going to live. Thank God for that, we all thought we were going to lose you! You're a very strong woman and I'm glad to have you as my best friend. Now I can tell people that I know someone who defeated death." I smiled at Pepper's silliness and snickered when I realized she looked like a clown. I pointed at her and giggled. "What's so funny?" She looked at Tony for confirmation; all he did was laugh when he realized what I was laughing at. Pepper glared and ran over to the mirror. She shrieked at what she saw. All her makeup was smeared over her face from sleep and rubbing her eyes. "I'm going to fix this up; I don't want to be here when you tell her the bad news…" Pepper hugged me before she left the room.

"You were in a fire… And your house is gone. It's completely destroyed. I'm so sorry Tianna…" Tony said and slumped back in the chair. He sighed and covered his face with his hands. I never saw Tony like this, and it was a real shock to see him like this now.

"Mr. Stark… How did I survive?" I said. I could tell Tony only heard mumbling because he raised his eyebrow at me. I rolled my eyes and moved the mask from my mouth. "I asked how I survived, Mr. Stark."

"Oh…" he hesitated for a moment. "Iron Man saved your life." I raised my eyebrows and smiled.

"Really?" Tony nodded and moved to the bed again. "Wow… That's twice now that he's saved my life. How do you know he saved me?"

"It was on the news this morning. You're not upset about your house?"

"No." I shrugged. "A house can be replaced but a life cannot. What caused the fire?"

"Don't know yet, I haven't seen the police report. It should be done in about two days. Jill wasn't there at the time of the fire."

"I'm not surprised; she was going to her friend's house. Does she know about what happened?" Pepper walked in and sat in the other chair.

"I wouldn't be so sure, unless she saw the report on it this morning. I'm assuming she's going to call you if she did."

"With what phone? I'm guessing all my belongings were destroyed, along with the house. My I.D, my cell, my bank cards… Oh jeez…" I sighed when I realized everything of mine was gone.

"They can all be replaced, I'll be sure to call City Hall and get all your information." Pepper said. "What we need to worry about now is your health and where you're going to stay until your house can be rebuilt."

"True, I can stay at my mother's house. I've been waiting to go visit anyways. Though I don't think she'll enjoy my being there for a whole year. That's usually the time these things take."

"Stay with me." Tony said. Pepper and I looked at him. Tony got offended by the looks on our faces and became defensive. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with a guy like me having a beautiful woman staying in his house! It'd be completely innocent anyways. I'm not such a bad guy all the time you know…"

"Suuureee… Tony Stark not such a bad guy all the time? Psh." I said as Pepper laughed.

"Actually, I think that would be a great idea. My place is a one bedroom, and Mr. Stark has a lot of extra room. Plus, I'm there almost all the time anyways, so now we'll have more time to hang out!" Pepper grinned and looked at Tony.

"True that… Alright, I'll stay with Mr. Stark, but only on a professional level. No funny business." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Of course darling, nothing more or less. I shall keep my hands to myself."

*********************************************************************************************************

It's been two days since I first got to the hospital. In that time, Jillian had visited which brought me much joy. I also got to wear some clothes Pepper had bought me, instead of those horrible hospital gowns. I didn't like the feeling of drafts rushing up the gown… Nor did I like the fact that anyone could see my underwear! But on a better note, I was feeling greater every day. My breathing was back to normal, and all the smoke was out of my lungs. Even better, it was my last day and I was free to leave as soon as the doctor said I could.

Tony and Pepper had stayed by my side the whole time; they brought me tons of gifts and food. The hospital food was terrible… Tony even brought me some extremely beautiful blue roses; my favorite color and favorite flower! I didn't think for a second that I could ever be friends with Tony, but to my surprise, I was and realized that he wasn't such a bad guy once you got to know him. I kind of hated myself for judging him so quickly. From now on, I decided I would give him the benefit of a doubt.

We were playing a game of crazy eights when Dr. Margrave walked in. We smiled at him as he told us I was free to go as long as there was a number he could call in case the results came in any time soon. I mentioned that I'd be staying at Mr. Stark's house for a while and Tony gave Dr. Margrave his number. I shook the doctor's hand and thanked him for saving my life furthermore. I put all my gifts in a bag and we left the hospital. Though on our way to Tony's house, he had the driver stop to get a cheeseburger and whatever Pepper and I wanted. Pepper explained to me why Tony liked/craved cheeseburgers.

Once at his house, I settled in one of the guest rooms that had a bathroom. I liked my privacy and liked it even more when it was respected. I mean, with Tony Stark around, you never know what could happen. Well… You did, but you'd just rather think of that not happening and making sure that it didn't happen. At least the door had a lock on it right? Pepper said she would kill Tony if he tried anything anyways.

Pepper and I had got some shopping done, seeing as I needed clothes right away. During the shopping spree, Pepper had gotten a call from the police station. She gave me the bad news; my car didn't survive. I have to admit, it did ruin the shopping trip a bit, seeing as it took me so long to save up for that car.

In the end of it all, it didn't matter. I still had my job, my building and my employees. I had my friends, my family and even more so, my very own reason for living. Though it was a bummer to not have my own house, I was thankful for still being alive, thanks to Iron Man and Dr. Margrave.


	14. Chapter 13

I woke up at around 7:45 am in the guest room of Tony's house. I was still feeling a bit awkward, seeing as he was a client. But I figured it would eventually go away. I did my morning routine, except for getting dressed. Frankly, I was too lazy to bother, considering what I've been through. I decided I deserved to be lazy for a bit. It's not like Tony was awake anyways. Pepper had told me that he doesn't wake up until around noon.

I made myself some coffee and then sat in the living-room, watching TV. I clicked to the news channel and watched a news bit about a house being on fire. At the bottom of the screen, I noticed the name Iron Man pop up in the sentences that were scrolling across. I turned up the volume slightly and listened closely. They stated that Iron Man had saved a woman from a blazing house and no one knew why. They said the police didn't have a statement and neither did Iron Man. I soon realized they were talking about my house and about Iron Man saving me. I sighed and turned the TV off, then finished my coffee. Once done, I went back into the kitchen and washed my cup.

"Good morning gorgeous." I had thought I heard Tony's voice, so I turned around and quickly stopped what I was doing, like a deer in headlights when I realized it was actually him. I widened my eyes, remembering that I was only in panties and a silk tank-top.

"Good morning Mr. Stark." I mumbled as he checked me out and smirked. I glared, scurrying behind the island counter.

"Feeling at home already?" Tony said, with that usual cheeky yet annoyingly sexy tone.

"Sorry… I was feeling a bit lazy when I woke up. I'll go get dressed." I said and quickly walked passed him. He slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me back.

"No worries darling, my home is your home. Feel free to go nude if you want." His smirk got bigger.

"You'd like that now wouldn't you?" I stuck my tongue out at him and he let me go. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I couldn't sleep. A nightmare was bothering me so…" He poured himself some coffee and leaned against the counter. He seemed to do that often, never really sat down anywhere.

"Oh? What happened? Maybe I can help." I smiled at him.

"I don't feel like talking about it. Anything planned for today?" he asked, then sipped his coffee.

"Nope, thought I'd chill around here, maybe explore a bit, you?" I leaned against the doorway and crossed my arms.

"I think I'm going to work on the suit."

"What suit?"

"Um… My favorite tux. I think I'll just have Pepper bring it in…"

"It must be very special. Maybe one day I'll get to see it." I said and left the kitchen.

"You already have…" Tony mumbled. His cell phone began to ring and he answered it. "Hello?"

"Mr. Stark, this is Dr. Margrave. We got the test results. Is Ms. Bellfaire able to talk?"

"I'll go get her…" Tony walked out into the hallway, and then placed one foot on the first step of the stairs. "Tianna! The phone is for you." He yelled.

"I'm getting dressed!" I said after I opened my door.

"It's important!"

"Yes, well at the moment I'm naked and I would prefer not to come out of my room until I'm fully dressed!" I yelled and slammed my door.

"Women…" Tony sighed and placed the phone back to his ear. "She's busy. But I can take a message."

"Alright then…"

10 minutes later, I had finished getting dressed and put on a bit of makeup. I put my walking shoes on and headed downstairs to see Tony still on the phone in the kitchen. I didn't want to eavesdrop so I just asked who it was. He had a concerned look on his face but didn't answer. He seemed to be deep in conversation and I didn't want to intrude any longer, so I left the house.

"When she is free, you must give her this news. I've already spoken to the police, so they are rushing the report."

"She just left, but I will give her the news as soon as she comes back. This is serious Dr. Margrave."

"Indeed it is Mr. Stark. But not to worry, she's in perfectly good health. I must go now, but don't forget to tell her."

"I won't, thanks for all your help. I appreciate it."

"Oh, I must ask, who are you to her? I do need it for my report since none of her family members were at the hospital."

"I'm her… well I was a client of hers. She was redecorating my house. Is that all Dr. Margrave?"

"Yes, have a pleasant day Mr. Stark."

"You have a pleasant one yourself." Tony hung up and sighed once again.

"Are you going to tell her, sir?" Jarvis said. "I couldn't help but over hearing your conversation."

"I'm not… But someone else is. I'll have to pass this information on."

"Very well sir."

*********************************************************************************************

Since I didn't have a car, I took a nice walk to the hill where I had first met Iron Man. The memories were coming back to me. I smiled to myself until I pictured my house on fire, exactly how I saw it on the news. But why didn't I remember how it happened, why it happened and why I wasn't awake at the time? I sat down on the hill and looked around at the people at the bottom.

"Tianna?" someone said. I turned around and smiled.

"Iron Man! I was wondering when I was going to see you again." I got up and walked over to him.

"I think you ought to sit back down… I'm afraid this is not a visit you're going to be happy about." I gave him a weird look and decided to stand. "The night of the fire, you were drugged with a powerful tranquilizer that is rare around these parts." I stood there, shocked and was about to faint until he grabbed me and held me up to him.

"Drugged? Why? How do you know this? This better not be a fucking joke!" I was now pissed off.

"The doctor told me. He contacted the police and they are rushing their report. It's not a joke, I could never do that to you, not after all that you've been through." He held me closer as I looked into his glowing eyes.

"I don't know how I can show you my gratitude for saving me again…"

"You could try to be more careful. The drug was in the champagne you drank. Did you drug yourself?"

"I was the one who poured the drinks, but I would never do such a thing to myself." I said, quite offended.

"I didn't mean to offend you; I just want to get to the bottom of this. That means the bottle itself had the drug in it. Did it look like it was already opened?" Iron Man let me go and I took a step back.

"No, it was a brand new bottle. I don't understand what's going on. Why am I being targeted?"

"Maybe because you are too close to someone that another person doesn't want you close to…?"

"Pepper and Tony… That's got to be it! She must have been the woman who pushed me off the building!" I glared into the distance before looking back at Iron Man.

"I wouldn't go that far, but might I suggest that you do keep an eye out? I'm afraid there aren't much people you can trust now." He said and turned around, then walked to the edge of the hill. Iron Man was about to fly off when I placed my hand on his shoulder. He turned his head.

"Can I trust you?" I asked softly. Iron Man didn't say anything, he just nodded. I nodded back and stepped away as he levitated off the ground and flew away.


	15. Chapter 14

I walked into Tony's house and closed the door quietly. After seeing Iron Man and having him telling me the very bad news, I figured my day wouldn't get any better. That was the kind of luck I had. I sighed as I locked the door and took off my sweater.

"Have a nice walk Ms. Bellfaire?" Jarvis asked.

"I suppose so, Jarvis. Is Mr. Stark around?"

"Yes, I will summon him for you."

"Thanks." A couple minutes later, I watched as Tony walked down the hallway. He greeted me with a smile, and then slightly frowned when I didn't return it.

"What's wrong Tianna?" he asked. I shrugged and walked up the stairs, he followed quietly. I went into my room and sat on the bed, Tony sat next to me. "Obviously there's something wrong dear. You can tell me, I mean I know we're not that close, but…"

"I saw Iron Man today…"

"Oh? And that's bad? I thought you wanted to see him."

"He gave me some bad news… Mr. Stark, I was drugged and my house was burned down on purpose." I felt tears start up and I tried hard to hold them back.

"Oh… I'm so sorry Tianna…" Tony said. "I'm sure the police are doing everything they can to figure out who did it."

My eyes began to get red as a tear fell down my cheek. Tony put his arm around me and hugged me close. I nestled my face into his shoulder and tears fell down my face like a waterfall. Tony rested his head on mine, rubbing his cheek against my hair. This made me cry more and Tony hugged me tighter. What he was doing reminded me of what my ex-fiancé would do whenever I was upset, which made me cry more because I didn't want to remember him and all that happened…

Tony lifted my face up with his fingers and looked at me. My eyes were puffy, there were still slight tears running down my cheeks and I felt horrible. I never cried like this around anyone, most of all, anyone who was Tony Stark. But, for some reason, I just felt comfortable around him. He wiped the tears off my cheeks and smiled.

"You look like someone was experimenting with makeup on you." Tony said and I chuckled. That was the first time anyone made me laugh while I was terribly upset. I pulled away, wiping the ruined makeup off with the sleeve of my shirt.

"Thanks, that's very comforting." I smiled at him.

"You're welcome darling. Now, no more tears. I don't want to have to see you cry again. If I do, it'll just break my heart. You're too pretty to be crying." Tony kissed me on the forehead and got off the bed.

"I'm sorry for being such a burden…" I said and looked up at him.

"You're not a burden. I quite enjoy having you around you know. You're great company, plus it's always a bonus to have a gorgeous woman living with me for a bit." He winked at me and left the room.

******************************************************************

Saturday night was ladies night for Pepper and I. We decided to hit a club for the night, with security following us of course. Tony wanted to tag along, considering he objected to us going out in the first place, because he was concerned for my safety. We let him come, but Pepper and I agreed to not be around him at the club. We didn't want to deal with the fan girls, crazy ex-girlfriends and one-night-standers.

Pepper was wearing a cute pair of pumps with a very daring V-neck silk blouse that showed the outline of her white lace bra. She had on a black leather pencil skirt that stopped above her knees to match everything else. Tony decided on wearing a dress shirt and a pair of black jeans. I do have to admit, he looked good, as did Pepper! Me, on the other hand, since I had such a stressful week, I decided to go out and beyond to have a good time. I was wearing a pair of red stilettos that had golden spike studs on them with a leather black mini-dress. We were a great looking group!

At the club, the music was loud and the place was full. Club 911 was the talk of the town these days, as it played old music and new music. I always favored the oldies but goodies. Pepper and I split away from Tony because as we predicted, tons of girls were cornering him. Our security guards were dressed as club folk so it wasn't obvious, but even they couldn't stop the girls from over-taking Tony.

Pepper and I were dancing with each other until some dude asked her to dance. She almost declined until I told her to go ahead. The song What Is Love by Haddaway was playing so I headed to the bar and sat on the barstool. I ordered a strawberry daiquiri, yum! The bartender decided now was a good time to flirt with me, seeing as I just ordered an alcoholic drink. He was cute, and the drink was on him, but I still turned him down nonetheless.

"Hey sexy." I turned in my seat to find Tony standing there. I smiled at him.

"Hey! What happened to the girls?" I asked, looking over his shoulder.

"I finally got rid of them. You'd think they've never seen a celebrity before…"

"Indeed…" I rolled my eyes at him.

"Care to dance?" he asked and held out his hand. I wasn't too sure if it'd be safe or not. "What are you afraid of? I don't bite… unless you want me to." He winked at me. I sighed and placed my hand in his.

"You're so cheesy." I said as we walked to the dance floor.

"No, I just know what girls are into these days." He smirked at me and twirled me around.

"Ah…" I listened closely as another old song was just finishing. I thought to myself, Love Leads to Madness by Nazareth. Good song. The next song started playing and I instantly began moving my hips to the beat.

"You know this song?" Tony asked, trying to move to the beat himself. I couldn't help but giggle at his attempts.

"Rum and Redbull by Beenie Man. Here, I'll help you." I placed my hands on his hips and moved them to the beat until he was able to do it himself.

"Thanks! I'm not used to this kind of music…"

Tony and I danced together while everyone else was watching. Once the song was over, people were coming up to us, saying we made a great couple. I blushed every time someone said that, I have no idea why. Pepper and her dance partner came over and we all sat at a table near the bar. We ordered some drinks and chatted for a while.

A slow song came on, P Diddy's I'll Be Missing You. Tony asked me to dance again, I agreed even though this song brought back too many memories I tried so hard to forget. No matter, maybe dancing with Tony would help me forget, even just for a little bit. Pepper and her guy decided to dance too. We were all now slow dancing in the middle of the dance floor. It was graceful and kind of romantic in a way. I didn't mind being so close to Tony, and I felt kind of sad. Mostly because I knew things would be back to normal the next day…

******************************************************************

Why are Sunday mornings always so… dreadful? I hated Sundays almost as much as I hated Mondays. There I was, sitting on the couch at 10:30 AM drinking my glass of orange juice. After last night, getting home at 3 AM, taking a shower and then finally getting into bed at 4, I have no idea why I was up so early.

"Whatcha watching?"

"Food Network…There's nothing else that's very interesting at this time on Sundays…" I sipped my orange juice.

Tony walked past the couch and stood, watching the TV. I looked at him and blushed slightly. He was shirtless, his torso was wet and so was his hair while his waist had a towel wrapped around it. I couldn't help but think how sexy he is when his hair was wet. Then an old memory came to me, the time when I woke up in Tony's bed and he was getting dressed. I took another sip of my orange juice, watching him over the tip of the glass and smiled to myself.

"Like what you see?" he asked. I choked on my drink and blushed more, I didn't know I was staring, nor did I know he had seen me staring! Tony smirked and laughed. I liked his laugh, and his smirk. Come to think of it, I was beginning to like everything about this man. Hmm…

"Don't flatter yourself. I was just wondering why you didn't get dressed before you came downstairs." I stuck my tongue out at him and turned to the TV.

"Well, I don't like getting dressed as soon as I get out of the shower. Plus, I didn't think you'd mind all that much, considering it is my house gorgeous. By all means, if you want to not get dressed after YOUR shower, be my guest. I wouldn't mind darling."

"Pfft…" I finished my drink as Tony sat down beside me.

"Do you know if Pepper will be coming in today?"

"No, and I doubt she will. I mean, her and that guy did leave together. She seemed pretty excited about it, so who knows what happened between them." I grabbed my glass and got up from the couch.

"Probably what didn't happen between us." He said and smacked my butt playfully.

"Hey! Hands off the merchandise there buddy!" I said and walked towards the doorway.

"Are you saying I'm able to buy what you have?" Tony teased.

"No, I'm saying you have to earn it." I smirked to myself and left the room.

"Damn…"


	16. Chapter 15

It was Monday morning, and I had nothing to do. I looked around the place and realized it needed some cleaning. Ah ha, something to do. I grabbed my iPod, turned it on and played one of the playlists. The first song to play was The Sign by Ace of Base. I began cleaning the living-room, sweeping, vacuuming and washing the floor. Once done, I went into the kitchen and did the dishes, swept and washed the floor as well. Now the song Amnesia by Rosette was playing.

"You're a liar, a cheat, unfaithful dog…" I sung to myself until I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and took an earphone out of my ear.

"I didn't know you felt so strongly about me." Tony said.

"Oh… I was singing a song, I wasn't calling you any of those things, I swear." I said feeling embarrassed.

"I'm just teasing. You know, you don't have to clean. You're my guest and guests don't have to do those kind of things."

"Hey, anybody here in the house?" Pepper called out from the front hallway.

"In the kitchen…" Tony replied. Pepper walked in and smiled at us.

"We're wanted at the police station. They called me and said they've finished their report. We'll take the limo." Pepper said and I nodded in agreement.

"No, we'll take one of my cars. That way we don't attract too much attention. Peps will take the Bentley, Tianna, you'll ride with me." Tony said and winked. Did he always have to make perverted remarks?

Tony helped me into the Audi R8, and then got in himself. We headed out of the garage, with Pepper trailing behind us in the black Bentley. We got onto the highway, and that's when Tony decided to speed. Honestly, I feared for my life! Pepper was trying hard to keep up without exceeding the speed limit, unlike Mr. Stark over here.

"Slow down! We're going to get arrested!" I said and glared at Tony.

"That's if we get caught. Besides, most police officers don't bother giving me tickets." He smiled and slowed down, letting Pepper catch up to us.

"Let me guess, because you're a celebrity?" I mocked.

"No, because they know I'll just do it again." He patted my thigh and I moved it away, then I rolled my eyes.

When we arrived at the police station, we were escorted by a fellow police officer into the building. We traveled down several hallways and then into an elevator. Once on the 3rd floor, we headed down another hallway and into someone's office. We all waited patiently until someone walked in and sat at the desk.

"I'm David White, head investigator for your case." He smiled at us, we all shook hands. "Now, I've got good news and bad news. Bad news first; as you know, you were drugged with Paratheson, a rare drug that isn't found here. We do know that you did not try to commit suicide, too much evidence to prove otherwise. Iron Man had come in and gave us details about what he saw when he rescued you. Now, we have discovered that the whole situation was arson; there were traces of gasoline on a lot of the furniture and walls. Also, we noticed that the stove was left on. Obviously, someone didn't expect or want you to survive that fire." He said, and then continued. "On our further investigation, we interviewed your friend, Jillian. Turns out, she was at her friend's house at the time of the fire. We also noted that Ms. Potts had left your house before you were drugged, we also interviewed her." Mr. White nodded at Pepper.

"You didn't tell me this…" I said and looked at Pepper.

"I didn't want you to worry. I didn't have anything to hide anyways." Pepper said. I instantly felt bad, because I had accused her a couple days ago to Iron Man…

"As I was saying, Ms. Potts cleared out. Anyway, the fire started not long after you had passed out. The good news is we know who the arsonist was… It was Jillian. The evidence proves it. She had time to drug your bottle of wine and make it look like it wasn't even opened. We were told by Iron Man, that when he checked her room, the dresser drawers were completely empty and the closet looked like it had been rummaged through. We also know that she left after you had passed out, which also makes her liable to be the arsonist. She did not get to her friends until 30 minutes after the fire started. I interviewed her friend to confirm this, and her friend hasn't heard from her since then. The only time people saw her last, was when she visited you at the hospital. So we haven't found her as of yet. We're assuming she left the city."

"Am I being punk'd right now? I don't believe what I'm hearing. My best friend of 15 years would never do that to me." I said, my temper slowly showing up.

"Well, no you're not being 'punk'd', I don't even know what that means… But all the evidence proves it was her."

"Tianna, remember how you said the woman who pushed you off the building had an English accent?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, but I don't see how it could be the same person." I said.

"It's not hard to fake an accent. Was she the same height as Jillian?"

"I see where you're getting at Mr. Stark. He's definitely on to something. It's possible that the woman, who pushed you off the building, is Jillian." Mr. White agreed.

"Yes, come to think of it, she was the same height. She was also the same build as her too. Now that I remember, Jillian was practicing English accents for a 'play' she was taking part in…"

"Ah, see? Then she must be the same person. All we have to do now is find her and prosecute her."

"I guess so… I'm just so shocked. I mean, why would she do this to me? I've done nothing wrong. Although, the woman did say I got in her way of killing Mr. Stark. But why would she want to kill him? What has he done?" I asked.

"I can't think of anything, I would suggest you all keep an eye out. She may pop in for a visit. If she does, do not talk to her and call the police right away. She's obviously extremely dangerous." Mr. White wrote down a couple notes in his notebook. "I'll have a police cruiser stay around Mr. Stark's house to keep watch. Do make sure your windows are locked, your doors are locked and your alarm is set. I don't want to take any chances. I'll try my best to figure out where she's hiding, I'll also contact her family. Hopefully they'll talk. I will let you know if anything comes up."

"Thanks so much Mr. White. You've been such a great help." I got up off my chair and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled and shook my hand, then Pepper's, and then Tony's.

Mr. White escorted us out of the building and to our cars. I got in with Tony again while Pepper went by herself. During the drive, it was completely silent and tense. I had so much anger building up; I didn't want to end up throwing it all at Tony. Tony didn't seem to mind the silence, but I could tell he was troubled because he was clenching his jaw. He turned to look at me, I looked away.

So many thoughts were going through my mind; I was thankful for everyone being there for me. I was regretful for how my best friend turned out. I was angry because of all that was happening. I knew that there will be a day where I just break down, and I had a feeling that day would happen very soon. Though, I was hoping it wouldn't.

"Tianna…" Tony whispered. I jumped slightly, being torn out of my thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Listen, I'm sorry about what's been happening to you. I know my apology doesn't mean much, but you're welcome to stay with me as long as you want and need to." He said. I looked at him and smiled.

"Thanks, and your apology means more to me than you think, Tony."

"Oh, you're calling me Tony now?" he said and grinned.

"Mhm, I don't see a reason not to." I looked away from him, a slight smirk creeping up on my face.

"Well, that's good to know dear." Tony patted my thigh again, but this time I didn't move it…


	17. Chapter 16

After a long busy day, I took a nice relaxing bubble bath, and then I spent the rest of the night in my room. I had changed into my silk chemise and climbed onto my bed. I fixed my pillows, got comfortable and grabbed the book I recently bought. It was a vampire love story, a REAL vampire love story. I couldn't stand the fake crap people were coming out with these days. I mean sparkling vampires? No thanks! I don't want any of that Twilight nonsense. I began reading chapter 4; the book was pretty good, for the first couple of chapters at least. I had high hopes it would get better.

"Tianna?..." I looked up to see Tony standing in the doorway. I smiled at him and nodded for him to come over. "I'm sorry to interrupt dear, but I did knock."

"I didn't hear a thing; I must have been too into my book. So what's up?" I placed my book beside me as Tony sat at the edge of the bed.

"Oh, nothing, I was just checking up on you. I'm about to go to bed, thought I'd see if you needed anything." He said and grabbed my book. "I'm hoping this isn't 50 Shades of Grey…" Tony turned the book to read the title. "Cold Kiss… looks interesting. May I borrow it when you've finished?"

"Sure, as long as you bring it back." I took the book from him and rested it on my lap.

"Of course, dear. So, you don't need anything?"

"Not that I know of… Do YOU need anything?"

"Not at this moment." Tony gave me a weird look after he answered. I sensed something was wrong, but I also sensed he wanted to talk about it, but didn't want to talk about it at the same time. Tony got up off the bed and smiled at me. "Well, goodnight gorgeous." He said and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Hmm, weird…" I said to myself.

I looked at my book. I was about to read it again when my mind changed its course. I found myself thinking of Tony. I thought about his smile, his laugh, the way he would enter a room. I realized he was such a gentleman to me lately, than from when we first met. I wondered why he hadn't tried to kiss me at all. Did he lose interest? Was I… suddenly wanting him to kiss me? No. Definitely… not! That would be totally out of order.

On the other hand, he was a great kisser. Hmm… There were just so many things that wouldn't leave my mind and they were all about Tony Stark. I mean, he was handsome; his smile could light up a room, and his smirks? Oh my God! He had a nice body, and definitely didn't look his age. He had a great personality that I admired; smart, stubborn, funny, charming, and mysterious. Not to mention arrogant and sometimes an ass… But he hasn't been arrogant or an ass lately…

What was going on with Tony? More importantly, what was going on with me? Why was he suddenly all I thought about, all I dreamed about? Whenever he was around me, my heart skipped a beat, I suddenly got very nervous; my stomach would feel like there were butterflies floating around. When he said my name, it would always sound so smooth and enchanting. Sometimes I would find myself fantasizing about what he's like in the bedroom… I was assuming he was great in bed, considering all the women wanted to be in his bed. Was it normal to fantasize about that stuff?

Dear God… Was I falling for Tony Stark? NO! Absolutely, positively not! I would never… Maybe I was falling for Tony Stark. Oh, who am I kidding? I was definitely falling for Tony and I know I've fallen too far in to get out. Damn…

******************************************************************************

"No ma, I'm doing fine here… No, there's no need for you to come over, really… Ma! I know you warned me about Jillian, but please! Don't drag it on longer than it needs to be…" Tony stood in the doorway and looked at me. I looked back at him, getting shivers down my spine. I turned away quickly and continued to talk with my mum. "Ma, I'm pretty sure he's not going to appreciate that… This isn't Burger King, Ma. You can't have it your way… Fine… I'll let him know… Love you too ma…" I hung up and turned around.

"He's not going to appreciate what?" Tony asked and walked over to me.

"My mother coming over for dinner tonight…" I said and shrugged.

"I'd love for her to join us. In fact, I know a great dish I can make!" Tony grinned and walked passed me.

"You? Cook? Wait a second!" I said following him down the stairs.

"Ms. Bellfaire, I happen to know more about cooking than grilling a cheeseburger." He said, walking into the kitchen.

"But you've never grilled a cheeseburger…"

"Doesn't mean I don't know how." He winked at me and grabbed some ingredients from the fridge, then put an apron on. "What time did she say she would be here?"

"6:30, but she's always half an hour early. Listen Tony, you really should object to her being here!" I whined.

"No darling, she will be having dinner with us and that's final. Now put on an apron, I'll need your help." Tony handed me the apron and I put it on unwillingly.

2 hours later, we had finished cooking what I hoped would be a great meal. We made French onion soup, garlic bread, roasted chicken and mashed potatoes, with a lot of other stuff in it too. Tony proved me wrong, he did know more about cooking than I thought. This man was full of surprises and I liked that. It's not often you find a man who doesn't mind cooking and is great at it.

I began setting the table, plates, bowls, etc. Once done, I grabbed the chilled wine and put it in the middle of the table. Then, while Tony was doing his finishing touches, I cleaned up the kitchen. I knew I wouldn't want to clean later on, might as well do it now. Procrastination was a very good friend of mine…


	18. Chapter 17

When Tony finished, it was 6:00 PM. My mother hadn't arrived yet, and I was thankful for that. Tony placed all the food on the table, and then stepped into the hallway. He smiled at me, realizing I had changed while he was doing his thing. He looked down at himself, and then ran up the stairs. I raised my eyebrow, and then waited at the door patiently. Tony came back down with changed clothes. I looked him up and down, gave him a smile and then the doorbell rang. I opened the door slowly and my mother busted through it.

"Darling!" she said and swung her arms around me.

"Ma…"

"Oh, we have so much to talk about deary!" she looked at Tony and grinned. "And who is this handsome man?" I watched as Tony walked up to her, shook her hand and introduced himself.

"Tony Stark, but you can call me Tony." Tony smiled at her.

"I would have called you Tony anyway dear, no matter if you wanted me to or not." Ma said. "My name is Bethany Bellfaire, but everyone calls me Beth."

"Well, Beth. I'll take your coat…" Ma smiled at him and let him take her coat. He hung it up in the closet and as soon as he got back, ma slipped her arm around his. I followed behind as they walked into the dining room.

"Wow, dear, this is gorgeous." Ma said. Tony pulled out a chair for her, she sat down. "You're such a gentleman!" Tony was about to pull my chair out when I shook my head at him. He could tell I wasn't very thrilled about her being here…

Once we were all settled at the table, I poured everyone some wine. As usual, Ma was being a chatter box as we ate our food. Tony seemed interested in everything she had to say. I stayed quiet, seeing as I've heard almost all the stories Ma tells people, even the embarrassing ones about me…

"So Tony, do you like being married to my daughter?" Ma asked. I instantly spoke before Tony could answer.

"Ma! We're not married!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you two even in a relationship?"

"No! We're just friends. Come on Ma, really."

"Well, I can see the chemistry between you two; it's why I thought you two were!" Ma smiled that innocent yet evil smile. The one she always did when she was giving a hint about something. Tony was grinning the whole time, figures!

"There's no chemistry here, Ma. We are just friends, who are living together for the time being." I said and looked at Tony. I saw a bit of hurt in his eyes and instantly felt bad.

"Oh, I'm sorry I misunderstood the situation. Although, Tony, she once told me she would marry a guy who had a nice butt and if I remember correctly…" Oh god… Why me?! "She did say YOU had a nice butt…"

"MA!" I squealed and blushed 50 shades of red. Tony smirked and watched as I slumped in my chair, completely embarrassed.

"Did she now? Well, that's good to hear." Tony said and winked at me, which caused me to blush more.

"Yes, she's told me so many things about you. Though, I do think I should keep them to myself. I wouldn't want to embarrass her."

For the rest of dinner, I stuffed my mouth with food. I didn't want to engage in any conversation. I was too embarrassed to speak anyways. Ma always embarrassed me when my friends were around; it's why I never invited them over as a teen. Though, during some of her and Tony's conversations, I would clear my throat if Ma went too far. At least she got the hint…

When Ma finally left, I leaned against the door and sighed. Tony sat on the bottom step of the stairs and smirked at me. I rolled my eyes, offered to clean up and left the hallway. I entered the dining room, then cleaned up the table and washed the dishes. I figured Tony went upstairs to take a shower and I was right. I put the dishes away in the cupboards, hung the glasses on the glass rack and then turned the kitchen light off. I turned off all the bottom floor lights off, except for the hallway and then set the alarm.

Once done, I headed upstairs and took a quick shower to wash away the stress my mother had caused. While in the shower, I had thought of what Tony looked like while he showered. I blushed, hoping the thought would go away. It only got worse, because my next thought was what it would be like to shower with him. I rested my head against the wall as the water cascaded over my body. Was I in lust with Tony, or was I really falling for him? I knew that to be in love with someone, there would need to be some lust sneaking in. Ugh…

I walked into my room from the bathroom and sighed. I had a towel wrapped around my body and realized the bedroom door was open. I scurried over to it and closed it, then changed into my Batman pajamas. All my friends made fun of me because of them, but they were comfortable and I liked them.

There was a knock on the door and I opened it, and then peeked through the opening. Tony was standing there, so I opened the door some more. There he was; silk pajama pants, no shirt, hair still slightly wet. I was beginning to think he did this on purpose!

"Hi." Tony smiled.

"Hey." I hid behind the door so he wouldn't see my pajamas. "Look, I'm sorry about my mother… She can be quite eccentric."

"No worries darling. I like your mother, she's a real trooper. Anyway, I just wanted to say goodnight."

"Goodnight." I said and watched as Tony walked down the hallway. I was about to close the door when he spoke.

"Tianna?" Tony said and turned around.

"Yes Tony?"

"Do you really think I have a nice butt?" he asked. I blushed and hesitated to answer.

"Yes… But it's not like I stare at it all the time or anything." I sighed, blaming my mother for this.

"Okay, goodnight again!" Tony smiled and turned around again.

"Night…" I closed the door and went over to my bed. I pulled back the blanket, making room for me to slip in when there was a knock on the door again. I moved back to the door and opened it. "Tony, I really need my sl-…"

At that moment, Tony grabbed me, pulled me close to him and kissed me with so much passion that my knees buckled. I widened my eyes, and then closed them, enjoying the kiss. His grip on my arms loosened, as his hands slid down my skin softly. Tony pulled away from me, letting his lips linger on mine barely before he moved back completely. I opened my eyes, feeling the heat rush to my cheeks. Suddenly he began smirking; I'm assuming he read my mind because he broke the silence.

"Nice pajamas, Batwoman." Tony said, and then walked down the hallway and into his room. He waved at me before closing his door. I stood there in the hallway with a dumfounded look on my face. What just happened?

I walked back into my room, closed the door silently and slipped into my bed. I turned the lamp off and sighed, turning over onto my side. The curtains on the window were opened enough for me to see the moon. I looked at it, watching the clouds move passed. I was baffled about what just went on in the hallway. I didn't expect that at all, Tony really was full of surprises. Although, I do have to admit, that's was a great goodnight kiss, if that's what it was. I smiled to myself and drifted off to sleep.


	19. Chapter 18

The next morning, I sat at the dining table eating my bacon and eggs. It was around 9:00 AM, and Pepper had stopped by to check on things. She sat next to me, and we talked about what happened last night. I only mentioned my mother coming over for dinner, not the goodnight kiss.

"Wow, sounds like Tony had a ball." Pepper said.

"I'm sure he did, oh my god. It was so embarrassing. She even told him that I thought he had a nice butt!" I took a sip of my orange juice.

"You admitted to it after she left…" Tony said as he suddenly stood in the doorway. I choked on my bacon and coughed, Pepper snickered.

"So are you two getting along?" Pepper asked.

"Definitely! It's wonderful having Tianna here. Makes the place seem… less empty and lonely." I looked up at Tony and he smiled at me.

"Your breakfast is on the counter." I nodded over to the kitchen.

"You made breakfast?" Tony looked over his shoulder and spotted the plate of food. He went in to get it, then came back and sat down at the table. "Thanks!"

"No problem. So anyway, Pepper. Was there any news on the case? Pepper stopped by the police station earlier." I said

"Well, they found her car deserted on the side of the highway. They said it's going to make it a bit harder to find her now."

"She's smarter than we thought." Tony said.

"Indeed, I never thought she'd be the kind of person to pull all this off. But, they always say expect the unexpected." I picked up my plate and went into the kitchen to wash my dishes.

******************************************************************************

It's been two months and there was no sign of Jillian. The police said they were going to stop the search, but Tony insisted that they continue, and that he would pay for their expenses. I wasn't the type to hold grudges for very long, and even I insisted they just stop looking. But the thought of her coming back and trying to start where she left off kept running around in my mind.

By now I was used to living with Tony and I started working again. The police had installed a new alarm and security system in my business building that was connected to a room full of computers, and the computers were connected to the system down in the police station. Whenever someone walked into the building, the sensors would scan the face of the person and would see if it matched anyone of interest, mostly people who were wanted by the police. It'd also scan the rest of them to see if any guns or knives were being carried. I was pretty impressed.

Most of the week, I was at Mrs. Winston's house, redecorating it. During my free time, I was either out shopping with Pepper, or lounging around the house with Tony if he wasn't busy. The more I hung out with Tony, the more I realized I was falling for him. I was hoping the more I'd fall, the more there was a chance of being caught.

"Hey, Tianna?" I looked up from the computer I was using in the study and smiled when I saw Tony standing there.

"Hey Tony, what's up?"

"Well darling, I was just wondering if you'd want to go to a ball-type thing with me." Tony scratched the back of his head, as if he was nervous.

"You mean… like a date?"

"Yeah, I suppose you can call it that dear."

"Is Pepper going?" Always got to have back up in case something happens!

"Of course. So, will you join me? I assure you I won't have any fun unless you're there to share it with me." I nodded in agreement. "Great! I would suggest you get ready, we're leaving in 2 hours."

"I have a feeling you'd have dragged me there, even if I said no." Tony smirked and left the room.

During those two hours, I had taken a quick shower and gotten ready. I picked a nice slimming black dress that was strapless and had a slight train to it. It had a heart shaped corset attached to it and flowed outwards at the bottom. I put my hair into long flowing loose curls and added a diamond necklace to it with diamond studs in my ears. I brushed my teeth and did my makeup. I added a nice pair of black heels and looked in the mirror. Not bad.

I left my room and headed to the stairs. I was about to go down, when I saw Tony and Pepper standing at the bottom waiting. Tony looked very handsome of course, in his black tux. Pepper was wearing a pale pink dress that stopped just below her knees with cute ballet flats. They looked up to see me and smiled. I walked down the stairs, trying hard not to trip and fall flat on my face. Once at the bottom, I sighed in relief.

"You look… amazing!" Pepper said and hugged me.

"Not as amazing as you!" I grinned.

"Yes, you both look equally amazing. Now can we hurry up? We're going to be late." Tony said.

"Party pooper…" I stuck my tongue out at him and he stuck his back out at me.

Once we got to the manor, I was amazed that it was much bigger than Tony's house. I was assuming this person was extremely important to have a house this big, or just incredibly rich. I felt a bit intimidated by the size of the house, compared to how my own was. It wasn't much to brag about and now that I saw this house; it REALLY wasn't anything to brag about.

Tony held his arm out, and I linked mine with his as Pepper walked in front of us. We were let in by a butler who was probably older than my mother. He led us into the ballroom and we all gawked. This room was huge with tons of chandeliers and decorations. It was half full with people; I was guessing more people were going to arrive later. We stopped at the top of the stairs and a man walked over to us. Tony whispered something to him and the man nodded. Everyone in the room looked up at us as the man took a step back. The band stopped playing, making it quiet for the man to speak.

"Mr. Stark has arrived with his date Tianna Bellfaire and Ms. Potts." He stated.

The people clapped in approval as we walked down the stairs. When we got to the bottom, the band started playing again and everyone began talking and/or dancing once more. I was kind of nervous because I've never been to any gathering like this. I was hoping I didn't look too out of character. Tony could see that I was a bit intimidated and placed his hand on the small of my back.

"Don't worry, darling. They've got nothing on you. Besides, you're too gorgeous to be worrying about what they're thinking." Tony said and guided me towards the side of the room.

We were flooded by people all around us. They all wanted to shake hands with Tony, chat about recent business, or wanted to know who I was. A few men tried to flirt with me, but it seemed all Tony would have to do was give them a look and they'd back off. Some of the women would give me dirty looks as Tony and I walked by. Tony stated they were probably old flames or just jealous. What did I have that would make them jealous? Tony wasn't mine, I was just his date. Pepper showed up with some glasses of champagne and gave each of us one.

"Thanks, I could really use one." I said and gulped down most of my glass.

"I can see that… I know what it's like to be flooded like that." Pepper motioned her glass to the crowd of people surrounding Tony.

"Jeez, at least he enjoys all the attention."

"Well, not when it's from his ex-girlfriends. Most of them just cause drama." Pepper and I moved over to the wall so our conversation wouldn't be over-heard by prying ears.

"I'm not surprised." I finished my glass of champagne and put the glass on the table we were standing next to. "How long do we have to be here for?"

"No clue, I'm assuming until Tony wants to leave, which could be never." Pepper watched as Tony walked over to us. He smiled and placed his empty glass on the table.

"Hey ladies, whatcha talking about?"

"Nothing." Pepper and I said at the same time.

"Care to dance, Tianna?" Tony asked. I looked over at Pepper and she smiled.

"Go ahead; I have some business to discuss with Mr. Parker." She patted Tony's shoulder as she walked by and headed over to the man.

"Alright, but make it a quick dance. I don't want to embarrass myself." I said and took Tony's arm.

We walked into the crowd of people dancing and stopped in the middle. Tony placed his arm around my waist; my arm was on his shoulder. My free hand was linked with his, pointed outwards slightly. Tony and I began to sway to the music slowly; I was hoping I wouldn't step on his feet. He dipped me in a circle and pulled me back up gracefully. I listened to the song and realized it sounded familiar. It was a song I heard from a movie: Princess Diaries, Mia's Waltz.

The song became louder and faster, our dancing became more of a waltz type. Tony and I were now twirling in and around, meeting back together. Our steps were quicker and Tony held me tightly as we danced. We moved across the floor and people were making room for us to dance. The others had stopped dancing and decided to watch us. Tony was smiling and I couldn't help but smile myself. I really felt like a princess dancing with her new found prince. If only my prince felt the same way…

Tony twirled me out, then spun me back in and dipped me. I blushed as I looked deep into his eyes. The song faded into the background and I couldn't tell whether he was going to kiss me, or pull me back up. He leaned in close to me and smiled, his lips barely touching mine. I felt the heat in my cheeks grow warmer. I closed my eyes as he kissed me gently. Tony pulled away and I opened my eyes again. He smiled, I smiled back and he pulled me up, holding me close to his chest. The song ended and so did our dance. The people clapped and cheered as Tony bowed to me, and I curtsied.


	20. Chapter 19

The next song started and the people moved in to start dancing. Tony and I moved in again, same stance as before. We swayed to the romantic music and stayed quiet. I rested my head on his shoulder as his cheek was pressed against my hair. I so badly wanted to tell him how I felt, but I was scared of rejection. I knew how he was with the other woman, and I wasn't really sure if his actions were true or just deceiving. I felt him pull away slightly and I looked up at him.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing, just thinking." He replied.

"About what?"

"You."

"What about me?" I asked. Tony pulled me closer.

"I have something I need to tell you and it's been bugging me for a while." I waited for him to continue. "Tianna… I'm Iron Man." I pulled away from him and gave him a serious look. I felt anger build up in my stomach, it made me feel like I wanted to puke.

"What'd you just say?" I took a step back.

"I'm Iron Man… I should have told you sooner but I just couldn't. When I was Iron Man, I saw the admiration in your eyes, and I was frightened that if I told you, you'd never look at me that way again. Your mood would always instantly lighten up when you spoke about him and I could tell you idolized him."

How could Tony mock me like that and pretend that he's Iron Man? This was the lowest of low things he could do and I was ashamed to have feelings for him. How dare he do this to me, especially with all these people around? The anger I felt was getting stronger and I smacked him across the face, hard. The slap was so loud that people close to us turned to look. I could feel tears swelling up and I fought hard to hold them back. Tony looked at me with a stunned expression on his face.

"I'm sorry dear! Really, I am!" He said. I just glared at him. I was about to turn away when he grabbed my arm and turned me back. I smacked his hand away and growled.

"I will never forgive you for lying to me like this." I turned quickly, lifted my dress slightly and ran to the stairs.

The people stared, while I just ran. It felt like time was in slow motion because the stairs seemed farther than they were. I could hear Tony screaming after me in the background, along with others yelping as Tony brushed passed them, trying to catch up to me. I passed Pepper and stopped, turning to look at her. She was going to ask me what's wrong when I looked behind her to see Tony getting closer to me. I felt the tears pour down my face and shook my head before turning back around and running up the stairs.

My high heel slipped off and fell down some steps. I was going to stop and grab it, but instead took off my other one and carried it as I ran down the hallway. I kept looking back to see if Tony had caught up, but he didn't. So I took the chance and ran outside into the parking area. I quickly got into the limo and asked the driver to take me to Pepper's house.

Tony stood at the bottom of the stairs and stared up into the distance. He climbed a few steps, picked up the high heel and then walked to the top. He looked down the hallway and sighed. He felt a hand grip his shoulder and he turned around. Pepper gave him a worried look and took the shoe from him. She watched his face and realized he had the look of someone who was about to cry.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I told her… she didn't believe me." He said.

"Oh dear… I'm sorry Tony." Pepper looked down into the ballroom and saw that people were staring and whispering. "Let's go somewhere private." Tony nodded and they walked down the hallway. Once in a private area, they sat on a nearby bench.

"Pepper, I'm scared I've lost her forever… I almost lost her once, I don't want to lose her for real this time!"

"I know Tony… Just give it some time. I know Tianna, eventually she'll come around. We just don't know when." Pepper patted Tony's back as he held his face in his hands.

"I don't think so; she said she'd never forgive me. Pepper, she thought I was lying to her. The time I tell the truth, and she doesn't believe me!"

"Tony, calm down. All you have to do is prove to her that you're Iron Man."

"Well I can't bring her into the lab…"

"Of course not, but you know that spot she always goes to on the hill? You can go there in the Iron Man suit and meet her there, then show her it's you. I'm sure I can find a way to convince her to go there." Pepper suggested.

"True, I never thought of that… and I usually think of everything. Thanks dear." Tony and Pepper got off the bench.

"I think you should head home now. If Tianna is there, don't bug her. She won't be calm enough to confront." Pepper stated and patted his shoulder again. Tony had a worried look on his face.

"Alright, I'll take your word for it." Tony gave Pepper a hug and Pepper handed him the shoe.

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When I got to Pepper's building, I went in and took the elevator to the top floor. I got to the door to her condo and punched in the key. Once the door opened, I quickly walked in and closed the door behind me. I stripped off my clothes on the way to the bathroom and took a shower once I was there. I washed away all my smeared makeup and stood under the water.

Even after the shower, I was still crying, but at least I didn't have smeared makeup on my face anymore. I sniffled as I went into the living room with a towel wrapped me. I pulled out the sofa bed and pulled the covers down. Then I went to the dresser opposite of the room and took out a nightgown. I knew it was a good idea to leave some clothes here.

I put the nightgown on and crawled onto the bed. I got under the blankets and sighed. The room was dark and silent, except for the sounds of my sniffles and whimpers. I didn't like nights that ended with me crying myself to sleep, but this one was inevitable.

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When Tony got home, he got this empty feeling in his stomach. The house seemed awkwardly silent and empty. He searched the bottom floor for any sign of a living being. The house was dark, except for the rooms he was checking. He placed the lone high heel on a table.

"Jervis…" Tony said.

"Yes sir?"

"Is Tianna here at all?"

"No sir. She hasn't come home."

"Okay…" Tony sighed and went into his secret passageway and walked to the lab. Tony stood in the doorway of his lab and looked over all his different projects. He walked over to a wall that had different blueprints on it. "Jarvis, get the suit please."

The wall suddenly turned, revealing the Iron Man suit. Tony stood close to the glass casing the suit was in. He looked over the suit carefully and sighed once again. He turned around and went over to a table that had multiple sketches of the suit. He sat down on the stool and wondered if he'd ever be able to face the woman he was in love with ever again.

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Pepper stepped into her condo and blew out some air she was holding in. She went down the hall and tripped over something. She mumbled under her breath and turned the light on to see what she tripped over. She raised her eyebrow when she noticed a high heel on the floor, with a trail of clothing following after it. Pepper followed the trail until she came to the living room. She turned on the living room light and sighed when she saw Tianna sleeping on the sofa bed.

She went back to the hallway and picked up the clothing, put them in the laundry hamper and took a quick shower herself. Once done, she ate a snack, brushed her teeth after she finished, then went into her room. Pepper looked at her alarm clock, and then picked up the receiver to the phone on her side table. She dialed Tony's number and waited for him to answer.

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"Stark here…" Tony said as he answered his cell.

"It's Pepper, I found Tianna. She's sleeping on my sofa bed." Pepper said with a sleepy tone.

"Thank god… I was hoping she'd be there since she wasn't here."

"Yeah, I will speak to her tomorrow about you know what. Anyway, I'm about to go to sleep. I just wanted you to know that she was safe."

"Thanks darling. Let me know how it goes, I'm really worried about her." Tony sighed.

"I know you are… everything will be fine, I promise. Might I suggest that, when you do see her, you tell her exactly how you feel? I think it's been long enough. It's about time you two go on a date!" Pepper said, trying to lighten up the mood.

"What? You're playing match maker now?" Tony forced a laugh.

"Tony, don't be such a sarcastic chicken. I need to sleep now; you get some sleep too okay? You need it."

"Yes mother, as you wish. Sleep well, Pepper."

"You too, Tony."


	21. Chapter 20

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of a coffee maker beeping, signaling that it was finished. I stretched out my arms and legs, then yawned and curled up in the blanket. I closed my eyes, trying to fall back asleep when I felt someone tap my leg. I covered my head with the blanket and mumbled.

"Wake up Tianna, the coffee is ready." Pepper said, now shaking my leg.

"I'm up!" I groaned. I sat up and sighed, looking around the room. I glanced at Pepper and she smiled. I hate morning people…

"Sleep well?" she asked.

"I guess so… In need of coffee though, otherwise you're going to see me fall back asleep." I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and plopped back down. Pepper chuckled, left the living room and came back with a cup of coffee. She handed it to me and I sipped it as if it was the first drink I've had in years.

"Care to talk about what happened last night?"

"Not really. But thanks for clarifying that it actually happened. I was hoping it was just a bad dream." I shrugged and finished my coffee in silence.

2 hours later, I was now dressed in a pair of jogging pants and a pale blue tank-top. I had my hair in a bun with little makeup on. I was putting my extra pair of running shoes on when Pepper walked in. I could tell by the look on her face that she wasn't going to let me leave until I talked to her about last night. I avoided her gaze and sighed.

"Cough it up." Pepper said and sat beside me on the couch.

"Tony told me he was Iron Man last night… I gave him a nice smack and left. Why would he do that to me after all Iron Man did for me? As if Tony could be Iron Man, I mean he's sweet and kind, I can trust him. But Tony… he's just arrogant and perverted."

"There's two sides to every person you know. It's possible that he could be Iron Man. So what's your plan?"

"Well, not see Tony Stark for as long as I can, that's for sure. But at the moment, I plan on going for a nice jog. Jogging helps me get my thoughts together." I got up off the couch and grabbed my keys.

"You can't avoid him Tianna. I would have thought you'd be more mature about this whole thing. You're acting like a teenage girl in high school who just found out her crush has a crush on her best friend…"

"I didn't ask for your opinion on how I'm acting." I glared at her and walked to the door, then turned to look at Pepper. "And in my case, I'm acting as if my crush lied to me about being something he's not, and my crush already dated my best friend. Look how well that turned out." I said and slammed the door shut once I went through it.

Pepper ran over to the desk in the dining room and picked up her cellphone. She dialed Tony's number quickly and sighed in relief when he answered.

"She's heading to the hill; she's in a horrible mood and went jogging. I hope my friendship with her didn't just end…" Pepper said.

"I'm sure it didn't. I'm going to get the suit and then I'll be on my way." Tony hung up.

*************************************************************************************

I was jogging for about half an hour when I realized I had jogged all the way from Pepper's condo, to the place where I first met Iron Man. I looked up from the bottom of the hill and sighed. I walked up the hill and looked over the view. I let my breathing slow down and closed my eyes. The slight fall breeze whisked by and it cooled my body. My senses heightened when I heard some leaves rustling behind me. I opened my eyes quickly and looked behind me. Iron Man was walking up the hill. I turned around, my heartbeat racing.

"Tianna?" Iron Man said. It was more of a statement than a question. I felt a cold metal hand on my shoulder and I shivered. "You should have brought a sweater."

"Yeah…"

"Are you alright?"

"Peachy…"

"What's wrong?" He was now standing beside me, gazing at the clouds and sky.

"I was lied to…" I shrugged.

"Why would someone lie to a gorgeous woman like yourself? Who was it?"

"This guy I'm falling for… well was."

"Ah… I'd be upset too if the woman I'm falling for lied to me. But she's not the type to lie if she doesn't have a good reason for it. In fact, she's almost always completely honest. Brutally at that…" Iron Man chuckled. I felt my lips curve into a small smile and got rid of it quickly.

"You're falling for someone?" I asked.

"It's definitely a shock, but a damned good one! She's very upset with me though…"

"Well, that puts her and me in the same boat. The one that's full of people upset with other people. Why is she upset with you?"

"She thinks I lied to her about being someone I'm not, when in fact, I told the truth. I would never give her a reason to doubt any of my words and actions. I suppose there's only one way to fix the problem." He said and stood in front of me. I gave him a puzzled look and raised my eyebrow. I watched as the face of his suit started to lift. It went up to its full extent and I gasped, stepping back when I realized who it was.

"No… No way. This is NOT happening to me!" I growled and stomped down the hill. I almost tripped and fell on my face about 3 times going down this stupid hill. I felt someone grab my arm and pull me back, spinning me around. I was going to spill out some foul language until I was face planted with a pair of lips. I looked up at Tony and glared, pushing him away but he didn't budge. "Get away from me!"

"No Tianna. It's about time you stop pushing people away from you and face your problems. You're going to accept the fact that I am Iron Man whether you want to or not." Tony said and gripped my arm harder so I couldn't get away.

"You can't tell me what to do, I'm a grown woman!" I snarled.

"Start acting like one and maybe I'll consider you as one. Now smarten up and face the facts dear." He loosened his grip and I yanked my arm away from him with a scoff.

"How dare you…"

"Listen to me; I know I should have told you when we first met. But I didn't want that to be the reason why you agreed to me being your client. I wanted to make sure you were different from the other women I've had in my life and you definitely proved it. Tianna, I even died on the inside when I thought I had lost you in that fire. I've never felt this way about any woman and I'm glad you're the first and hopefully the last. I've already almost lost you once and I'm not going to actually lose you this time. I'm not taking that chance." Tony looked at me with deep appreciation in his eyes. I was searching my mind for what to say, but found nothing. I didn't know if I should believe him or if I should stay mad. "Say something, please!"

"I… I… you… what are you trying to say?" I asked. Tony sighed, grabbing me again and pulled me close.

"I'm saying I love you!" he said and kissed me before I could reply.

The kiss was romantic and passionate, kind and gentle. Tony's arms wrapped around my waist as mine snaked around his neck. My eyes closed while I stood up on my toes, deepening the kiss as much as I could. When we pulled away from each other, we just stared in awe. I was still a bit confused but realized he was telling the truth.

"So what happens now?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"You accept my apology and then we go back to my place and make sweet love." Tony grinned. His smile got wider when I glared at him. "I'm kidding gorgeous."

"Good… I'm not going to accept your apology until you take me out on a date first." I said, a slight smirk creeping up.

"Done, anywhere specific?"

"Surprise me; you're usually good at that."

"I know a great place we could go, but our date will have to wait till tomorrow dear. They're not opened today." Tony hugged me close to him. The cold metal felt good on my warm skin.

"I have so many questions… I guess they can wait until our date. Oh crap! I was so rude to Pepper this morning… I'm going to have to apologize to her. Do you think she'll accept some flowers? Surely you can remember what her favorite flower is." I looked up at him from his chest.

"Red tulips and they'll make her more than happy. She was worried that your friendship was over actually. I'm sure she'll be glad to hear it's not."

"I would never end our friendship like that over a small fight. Pepper's my best friend and it'll take more than a fight to break us up. Though, I do have to ask her permission for something…"

"And what would that be darling?"

"Well, permission to date her ex. It's the number one rule in the book of friendship: Never date your friends ex." I said and Tony laughed.

"I'll make sure she makes an exception." Tony winked at me.


	22. Chapter 21

"Oh my, Tianna, they're beautiful!" Pepper said as she sniffed the flowers.

"I'm sorry about how I acted… I was just so upset… But I'm all better now." I smiled at her.

"I'm sorry too. I was scared our friendship was over! I'm glad it's not, I wouldn't be able to cope with living my life without my best friend." Pepper hugged me tightly and then left to go put the flowers in a vase.

"Thanks for helping me pick out the flowers." I said and kissed Tony on the cheek.

"No problem, I'm always here to help out. Are you going to stay here tonight or are you coming back to my place?" Tony said as Pepper came back.

"I'll probably come back to your place. But for now, I'm going to take Pepper out to dinner if that's alright with her." I looked at Pepper and she nodded. "Great!"

"Alright, I should head out sweetheart." Tony said, kissing my forehead. I hugged him goodbye and watched as he left the condo.

********************************************************************************

Pepper and I were sitting at one of the tables in the back of the restaurant. She had decided on going to La Premiere, it was a cute French place that had great food. We picked a back table for privacy so we could talk about anything without prying ears listening in on our conversation. We talked about Tony mostly, a lot of people still didn't know he was Iron Man and I didn't want to ruin it for people.

"Why didn't you tell me he was Iron Man?" I asked, taking a bite of my food.

"Tianna, Tony's Iron Man." Pepper said and laughed. I rolled my eyes and laughed with her. "I didn't tell you because you had to find out either on your own, or from him. You would have never believed me anyways."

"I suppose so… I'm glad I know now. It explains so much."

"I have to admit though; he didn't pick the right time to tell you. At least it was in his best interest."

"Mhm, though I was hoping I wouldn't fall for him. He's so wrong for me, we have nothing in common. He's into all that bad boy stuff, and I'm into all that good girl stuff."

"He likes the good girls, to be with for a long time anyway. For his short thrills, he goes for the girls who like men that are quick to drop the fly." Pepper said, sipping her drink right after.

"Is he quick to drop the fly?..." I asked, getting kind of worried.

"Only for his short thrill girls. You have nothing to worry about, he knows you're a keeper and he'll do anything to keep you." Pepper smiled.

********************************************************************************

_Tony and I had been dating for a month now and I was having the time of my life. We were much into each other and spent time together whenever we could. We worked out our schedules so we both had free time on the same days and what not. Living with him made it all the more easier. I wasn't used to being spoiled so much by a man, or being treated like royalty; taking a limo almost everywhere, or being driven in his Audi R8. Still, I couldn't enjoy life more than I already was._

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The phone rang on Tony's cluttered desk. He groaned and took his feet off the desk, moving papers around trying to figure out where his phone was. He finally found out and answered. "Stark here." he said lowly.

"Tony, it's Pepper. Is Tianna there?"

"No... She left last night to go to Toronto. Didn't she tell you?" he said and took a sip of his drink, putting his feet back up on the desk.

"Oh yeah! I completely forgot that she was going on a business trip. I was hoping to spend time with her today... Oh well, I'm on my way to your place. I'll be there in a couple minutes." Pepper said and hung up.

Tony went back to reading his newspaper. He was intrigued on how people could find things out so easily. He specifically liked it when people wrote articles about him. He turned the page and stared at the headliner. "Stark's New Girl; Could She Be The One?" Tony smirked and read on.

"Stark has been seeming to change his old playboy ways! No more late night flings out of the stables for this stallion. Could it be that his new girlfriend Tianna Bellfair is the reason? We can tell she's bringing out the best in him. But is it going to end quickly like his last relationship with his secretary?" Tony sighed and put the newspaper down.

"Tony?" Pepper called out as she walked down the stairs. Tony looked up and smiled. "Ah, here you are."

"Always, my dear." Tony replied. Pepper looked at all the sketches on the table in the middle of the room. She studied them and raised her eyebrow.

"New suit?"

"It's been the same design for two years. I think it's time for a change." Tony got up off his chair and walked over to Pepper. He looked down at the sketches and sighed.

"There's been a whole lot of change in your life the past months."

"Change can be good sometimes, and this change definitely is. Either that, or I've completely lost my mind." They both laughed.

"You lost your mind years ago." Pepper smirked and patted his shoulder. "But we all like you that way. I have some filing to do, I'll be in my office if you need me." Pepper walked back up the stairs.

The next couple of hours were spent on adding the details to his final sketch. He decided that he would change the colors of this new suit to black and blue. Tony scanned the sketch and it popped up as a holograph. He changed the sketch into a 3D image and took a step back.

"It's coming along nicely, sir." Jarvis said.

"Indeed it is, couple more touches and it'll be ready to start preparing the parts for it." Tony stepped back and added the colors to the image, then made the image bigger. "I'm liking it." He said and grabbed his scotch, then sipped it.

"Shall I begin computerizing it now, sir?" Jarvis asked.

"Yes, also make sure the robots begin making the parts to the suit after."

"Beginning computerization sequence..."

"Thanks bud. Have a good night." Tony poured himself another scotch, then walked up the stairs.

"Good night sir."


	23. Chapter 23

"Oh my god, Tony! What happened?" I asked, dropping my shopping bags in the doorway. He was standing in the middle of the living-room, which was a complete mess and looked like a tornado came through it.

"I was practicing some new dance moves..." he said, an innocent smile on his face. Pepper shook her head and sighed.

"We could've found him doing worse things Tianna." Pepper patted my back. "Lets go put this stuff away, then we can help him clean up the living-room." I grabbed my bags and headed up the stairs with Pepper.

"Don't you worry ladies! I can clean this up myself!" Tony shouted.

I could only assume Tony wanted to have some cool moves to show off at this birthday party he was going to attend. Whatever the moves were, I knew there was going to be a mess right after they were done.

Though he never did tell me who the birthday party was for, he only told me that the birthday boy/girl, specifically asked I be there.

The next couple of days were quiet and relaxing. Tony and I had the week off for some much needed relaxation. We offered Pepper the week off, but she decided against it. That woman never did like taking a day off if she didn't need it.

************************************************** **********

"You two look beautiful tonight." Tony said as Pepper and I walked down the stairs. We smiled at him and linked our arms in his. We took the limo and arrived at a small looking house. When we got to the front door, we were greeted by an older man.

"Ah, Mr. Stark, Ms. Bellfaire, Ms. Potts; do come in." He smiled at us and moved aside.

Once inside, we were lead down a hallway. The house seemed much bigger on the inside, than it did on the outside. We went out the back patio door, followed a pathway to a lone building and went inside.

The inside was beautifully decorated with "Happy Sweet 16" banners, balloons, flowers, food. The food looked very enticing and I felt my stomach gurgle slightly. I figured they used this building for proms and other parties. A pretty good home business, especially for people who liked to help others.

There was light music playing in the background while other guests were sitting at tables chatting. Tony, Pepper and I sat down at our reserved table which was located at the front of this small stage with a podium in the middle. A waiter came over and poured us some champagne.

"I wish I had birthday parties like this." I said and nudged Tony's arm. He grinned and kissed my cheek.

"Well maybe you'll get one when your birthday comes around."

"So who's birthday is this anyways?"" I asked. Pepper looked around, avoiding my question and I began to get a bit suspicious.

"You'll find out soon enough." Tony said smoothly and got up out of his chair. He squeezed my shoulder assuring me and left the table.

Minutes passed, and I watched a bunch of teens walk in. They sat with the other adults who I assumed were their parents. Tony came back shortly after and sat down, sipping his champagne.

When everyone was settled at their tables, the lights dimmed and everyone went quiet. The curtains on the stage opened and a teen walked out to the podium. We all clapped accordingly, stopping once he was near the microphone.

"I would just like to thank everyone for coming tonight. It means a great deal to me to have such wonderful friends. But most of all, I would like to thank Tony Stark, for making this night possible. This wouldn't have happened without you, Tony." The audience applauded and Tony stood up, bowing to everyone. He sat back down and the teen began to speak again. "Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we have a special guest here with us."

I quickly turned to look at Tony and raised my eyebrow, he smirked. I looked back over and the boy was now standing at our table with the microphone in his hand. A spotlight was moved towards the table and everyone was watching intently. He held his hand out at me and I blushed, standing up slowly. I placed my hand in his and he began to speak again.

"Everyone, this is Ms. Tianna Bellfaire." he said, I heard his voice squeak slightly, showing me that he was nervous. He continued, a quick burst of confidence hitting him. "Not only is she Tony's girlfriend, but she is also my date for the night." He put the microphone in Tony's jacket pocket.

I widened my eyes and the other teens, mostly the boys, wolf whistled and whooped. I looked at Tony and kicked him under the table. Tony snickered and grinned some more.

"Tianna, may I have the first dance?" he asked politely. I nodded and was lead to the dancing area as the boys whooped some more, the adults and girls just clapped.

It went quiet, the spotlight still on us and an old song began to play. I recognized it as it was one of my favorites; Dream Lover by Sam Cooke. We swayed to the music, until the boy spun me around, bringing me back and dipping me. He pulled me back up and we started swaying again. Coming to the end of the song, the coupled teens joined in, dancing around us.

As the song Goodbye by Def Leppard came on, the boy and I moved back to the table. He helped me into my chair and smiled down at me before pulling out a chair and sitting down beside me.

"Tianna, this is Harley." Tony said, taking a sip of his drink. Harley and I shook hands.

"Is this the boy you told me that you were 'connected' with a couple years ago before we met?" I asked, nudging Harley in the arm teasingly. He blushed and Tony nodded.

"We're still connected, as you can see. Isn't that right kid?"

"You left me in the cold!" Harley argued.

"Only because we're so connected."

Harley introduced us to his mother and some of his friends. They were disappointed when Tony told them that he didn't bring the suit with him. But he promised to make it up to them at some point. Harley was pretty cool for a now 16 year old.

Two hours into the party, everyone was eating at their tables and chatting. The ballroom was filled with laughter, lights and energy. I looked around, watching everyone have a wonderful time. I could tell that the kids were extremely happy due to Tony's doing.

I gazed at him as he talked to Harley. He seemed very pleased with himself, and the way that he looked at Harley? Tony was looking at him as if Harley was his own son.

I smiled to myself in awe, picturing Tony as a father. I wondered if he and Pepper ever talked about kids when they were together. I looked at her, thinking to myself as she stuffed her face with food. I was taken out of my thoughts when someone tapped my shoulder. It was Harley.

"Would you like to dance again?" he asked, his face turning bright red.

"I'd love to." I said, taking him to the dance floor. I looked behind me to see Tony and Pepper following.

Tony spun Pepper in a small twirl, bringing her back into his hands. Harley and I began to dance beside them once the song changed. It was changed to an emotional slow song; Memory - Barbra Streisand. Couples were now slow dancing, it was quiet other than the music playing.

"You look enchanting tonight Ms. Bellfaire." Harley said.

"Thank you, you look quite handsome yourself, and please, call me Tianna." I smiled and kissed his cheek.

Tony and Pepper moved closer to us, keeping a watchful eye. I felt Harley's hand move from the small of my back, down to my butt. I couldn't help but chuckle, until someone moved Harley's hand back up. I turned and saw Tony glide around us. He gave Harley a warning gaze and Harley just grinned.

"Behave yourself Harley, we wouldn't want anything bad to ha-"

Tony was interrupted by a big explosion erupting through the right end of the ballroom where the bathrooms were, causing a rush of air, smoke and fire to move through the rest of the building.

Everyone was thrown to different areas of the room as the fire and smoke spread quickly. Wooden beams began to fall from the ceiling, flames growing wider and taller with every second.

The only sounds were of wood burning, along with other various materials and the horrified squeals of people burning alive...


End file.
